Bangkok - Thailand's corruption watchdog said Thursday it suspected Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat was guilty of turning a blind eye to corruption when he was a civil servant.

The National Counter Corruption Commission will ask the civil service committee of the Justice Ministry, where Somchai used to work as permanent secretary, to consider retroactively firing him for dereliction of duty.

The case started in 2000 when a senior judge, Chamnan Rawiwanpong, complained about corruption involving the sale of court-owned land in a province near Bangkok and state fees not paid during the purchase. Somchai counter-attacked by demanding Chamnan's dismissal for disciplinary offences.

Somchai - who is brother-in-law to controversial former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra - resigned from the civil service last year to run in a general election under the banner of the Peoples Power Party (PPP), which is believed to be a proxy for the self-exiled Thaksin.

Somchai was picked as prime minister a month ago after his predecessor, Samak Sundaravej, was found guilty of being a remunerated TV chef, in contravention of political rules.

The case is one of an avalanche of legal actions that have been launched against Thaksin, his family and associates in the wake of the September 2006 coup that ousted him.

The current government is widely expected to fold in the near future under intense political pressure from Bangkok elites and the powerful elements in the military who appear determined to wipe Thailand clean of all Thaksin influence.

Political commentators note how earlier this year key players in the PPP traveled to London to meet Thaksin before Somchai announced his cabinet. (dpa)