Thailand's prime minister suspended over leaked phone call with former strongman
Paetongtarn Shinawatra, 38, has only held the premiership for 10 months after replacing her predecessor, who was removed from office. Her suspension brings fresh uncertainty to a country roiled by years of political turbulence and leadership shake-ups.
The Constitutional Court accepted a petition brought by a group of 36 senators who accused Paetongtarn of violating the constitution for breaching ethical standards in the leaked call, which was confirmed as authentic by both sides.
The court voted to suspend Paetongtarn from her prime ministerial duties until it reaches a verdict in the ethics case. Paetongtarn will remain in the Cabinet as culture minister following a reshuffle.
Paetongtarn has faced increasing calls to resign, with anti-government protesters taking to the streets of the capital Bangkok on Saturday, after the leaked call with Cambodia's Hun Sen over an escalating border dispute sparked widespread anger in the country.
The scandal prompted the Bhumjaithai party, a major partner of the prime minister's government, to withdraw from the coalition last week, dealing a major blow to her Pheu Thai party's ability to hold power. Paetongtarn is also contending with plummeting approvals ratings and faces a no-confidence vote in parliament.
In the leaked call, which took place on June 15, Paetongtarn could be heard calling former Cambodian strongman Hun Sen 'uncle' and appeared to criticize her own army's actions after border clashes led to the death of a Cambodian soldier last month.
The Thai prime minister could be heard telling Hun Sen that she was under domestic pressure and urged him not to listen to the 'opposite side,' in which she referred to an outspoken Thai army commander in Thailand's northeast.
She also added that if Hun Sen 'wants anything, he can just tell me, and I will take care of it.'
Her comments in the leaked audio struck a nerve in Thailand, and opponents accused her of compromising the country's national interests.
Thailand and Cambodia have had a complicated relationship of both cooperation and rivalry in recent decades. The two countries share a 508-mile (817-kilometer) land border – largely mapped by the French while they occupied Cambodia – that has periodically seen military clashes and been the source of political tensions.
In the wake of the scandal, Paetongtarn tried to downplay her remarks to Hun Sen, saying at a press conference she was trying to diffuse tensions between the two neighbors and the 'private' call 'shouldn't have been made public.'
The prime minister said she was using a 'negotiation tactic' and her comments were 'not a statement of allegiance.'
Paetongtarn became prime minister last year after the Constitutional Court ruled that her predecessor Srettha Thavisin had breached ethics rules and voted to dismiss him as prime minister.
The same court also dissolved the country's popular progressive Move Forward Party, which won the most seats in the 2023 election, and banned its leaders from politics for 10 years.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
38 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Thai court suspends prime minister as political crisis spirals
Advertisement In a petition to the Constitutional Court, a group of senators sought the removal of Paetongtarn, accusing her of violating ethics standards in her talks with Hun Sun. On Tuesday, the court agreed to consider the complaint and suspended her with immediate effect. Paetongtarn said she accepted the court's decision and would soon present her case. 'I will try to prove that my intention and effort was more than 100 percent for the country,' she told reporters. She also apologized again, saying the conversation with Hun Sen was not for her personal gain. Paetongtarn has few options on how to proceed, said Isra Sunthornvut, who heads the Thailand office of Vriens & Partners, a government affairs consultancy. One path is to resign, he said, while the second is to dissolve parliament and call for new elections. Advertisement 'Or No. 3, which is the most terrible, is military intervention,' he said. 'But with the Constitutional Court coming in, I wouldn't see a reason for the military to intervene.' It is the latest upheaval in Thailand, which has suffered from long stretches of political uncertainty in recent years. Thailand has been mired in a cycle of coups and protests for decades, with the royalist-military establishment exerting its will against threats to the status quo. Since the early 2000s, the military has twice overthrown democratically elected governments linked to Thaksin Shinawatra, Paetongtarn's father. In the 2023 election, voters emphatically rejected military rule. But the party that won the most ballots, Move Forward, was blocked from forming a government and was eventually disbanded. Months after the election, Thaksin's Pheu Thai Party took power. An ally, Srettha Thavisin, became prime minister, but, less than a year later, was removed by the Constitutional Court over an ethics complaint. He was succeeded by Paetongtarn. Since taking office, she has been viewed as a puppet of Thaksin's. But the roots of the current crisis lie in tensions with Cambodia that have flared occasionally over the decades. In a brief skirmish in May, a Cambodian soldier was killed, and the relations between the two neighbors quickly deteriorated to the lowest point in years. Paetongtarn and Hun Sen spoke to each other on June 15, aided by translators. Paetongtarn called him 'uncle' and offered to 'arrange' anything that he wants. She also urged him to ignore 'the opposite side,' a reference to the Thai military. Her comments drew condemnation from lawmakers, both those in her coalition and in the opposition, who all called on Paetongtarn to resign. The second-largest member of her governing coalition, the Bhumjaithai Party, quit her alliance last month. Quickly, the legal challenges against Paetongtarn piled up. Advertisement It remains unclear how long the court will take to reach a verdict on Paetongtarn's fate. But she has been given 15 days to defend herself against the charge, the court said in a statement. In the interim, Suriya Jungrungruangkit, the deputy prime minister, is set to be appointed the acting prime minister, according to the Secretariat of the Cabinet. For now, Paetongtarn is trying to hold on to at least one other title: On Tuesday, she appointed herself culture minister, though she has not been sworn into the role. There is precedent in Thailand for suspended prime ministers to be returned to the role. In 2022, the court suspended Prayuth Chan-ocha, the general who staged the most recent coup, while it considered a petition to remove him from office for overstaying his term. He was restored to the job in five weeks. But even if she returns to office, Paetongtarn has precious little political capital. A poll conducted last month showed that her approval rating had plummeted to 9.2 percent from 30.9 percent a few months earlier. Thaksin, 75, is also facing legal challenges. On Tuesday, he went on trial on a criminal charge of insulting the monarchy, a case that could send him to prison for up to 15 years. This article originally appeared in
5 hours ago
The suspension of Thailand's prime minister over a leaked phone call stirs familiar turmoil
BANGKOK -- The Constitutional Court's suspension of Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has raised questions about whether her family's political comeback last year would end with another downfall. Paetongtarn was the third prime minister in her family, after her father, Thaksin Shinawatra, a telecom billionaire who has been one of Thailand's top political operators, and her aunt, Yingluck Shinawatra, who was the country's first female prime minister. Thaksin was ousted by a military coup in 2006 and Yingluck by a court ruling in 2014. Thaksin remained beloved after his ouster among voters who saw in him and his allies a government that looked after their interests. While campaigning in 2022, Paetongtarn acknowledged her family ties but insisted she was not her father's proxy. 'It's not the shadow of my dad. I am my dad's daughter, always and forever, but I have my own decisions,' she said. She also said she hoped her government would be able to 'build opportunity and quality of life' and 'make the country go forward.' Paetongtarn was suspended Tuesday by the court pending an ethics investigation a leaked phone call with senior Cambodian leader Hun Sen that was perceived as damaging to Thailand's interests and image. Her critics have said Paetongtarn's government has achieved little. Marriage equality became law but was initiated under her predecessor. Controls on cannabis were retightened after public backlash over decriminalization, but the move and its enforcement were called rushed and confusing. Her critics also cited unsatisfactory outcomes in other Pheu Thai party policies, like unequal minimum wage increases, constant changes in a cash handout program and the stalled and controversial legalization of casinos. They also noted the lack of progress in tariffs talks with the United States. But analysts see the leaked call following border tensions with Cambodia to be the most disastrous event by far. The outrage has centered on Paetongtarn's comments about an outspoken Thai army commander and the perception that she was trying to appease Hun Sen. Paetongtarn apologized but also denied that she had damaged the country. She ignored calls for her to resign or dissolve Parliament to take responsibility, which critics saw as an attempt by the Pheu Thai party to cling to power. Napon Jatusripitak, a political science researcher at Singapore's ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, said her response seemed 'totally disconnected from political reality' and that the scandal has exposed 'her leadership failures and fuels accusations that she prioritizes family interests over national welfare.' Her father, Thaksin, is believed to be the key decision maker behind Pheu Thai, now led by Paetongtarn. Time and again, Thaksin-backed parties have prevailed in national elections but could not stay in office after legal rulings and destabilizing street protests engineered by Thaksin's die-hard foes. But in 2023, Thaksin alienated many of his old supporters with what looked like a self-serving deal with his former conservative opponents. It allowed his return from exile and his party to form the new government, while sidelining the progressive Move Forward Party, which finished first in a national election but was seen by the conservative establishment as a greater threat. Now with the current crisis, things could drastically change for the Shinawatra family. 'In light of the recent controversy, the Shinawatra spell has been broken. The only viable Shinawatra scion is now tainted,' Napon said. 'It would be an understatement to say that the Shinawatra name no longer guarantees electoral success.' And not everything has been squared away with her family's enemies. Yingluck remains in exile, and legal problems — arguably politically inspired — could send her to prison if she returns to Thailand. Thaksin also still faces some legal challenges. Thailand's royalist establishment has long been disturbed that Thaksin's populist policies appeared to threaten their status and that of the monarchy at the heart of Thai identity. Paetongtarn now also faces protests by familiar faces from the same conservative, pro-royalist group that opposed her father. 'History seems to be repeating itself in a way. Thailand seems trapped in a depressingly familiar cycle where Shinawatra-led governments come to power, only to face mounting pressure from traditional power centers, street protests, and extraparliamentary interventions that ultimately force them from office,' Napon said. Paetongtarn, 38, is the youngest of Thaksin's three children. She was an executive in a hotel business run by her family before making her public entry into politics in 2021 when the Pheu Thai party named her to lead an advisory committee. She has two children with her husband, Pitaka Suksawat, who was a commercial pilot before he began working in one of the Shinawatras' real estate ventures.
5 hours ago
Constitutional Court suspends Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra over a leaked phone call
Constitutional Court suspends Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra over a leaked phone call BANGKOK -- Constitutional Court suspends Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra over a leaked phone call.
