BANGKOK, Thailand — The entire Thai cabinet must stand down because the prime minister, Samak Sundaravej, hosted a cooking show on television, the country’s constitutional court has ruled.

The court found that Mr. Samak violated a clause of the constitution that bans ministers from being employed or having any business dealings outside government.

However, there is nothing to stop Mr. Samak from becoming prime minister again, and his MPs have already said they would re-elect him on Friday.

The bizarre developments followed two weeks of protests during which anti-government activists occupied the lawns of Government House, preventing Mr. Samak from reaching his office. They demanded that he resign.

For a week there has been a state of emergency and daily rumors of military coups, the resignation of the government, or the dissolution of parliament.

Analysts say that both the protests and the court case reflected a deep conflict between the government’s many supporters in the countryside and the metropolitan elite, including the army and judiciary, who hate the administration. Mr. Samak, 73, is famous for his love of food. Among his special dishes are salmon coconut soup and pork leg marinated in Coca-Cola.

After taking office seven months ago Mr. Samak personally cooked dinner for the Burmese prime minister, General Sein, when he visited Thailand.