Protesters rally in Bangkok, demanding resignation of prime minister
A massive rally was held in Thailand to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra.
Local media report about 17,000 protesters, including conservative supporters, joined the rally in Bangkok on Saturday.
The demonstration was triggered by a leaked telephone conversation on June 15 between the prime minister and former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who is currently Senate President.
In the recording, Paetongtarn reportedly made negative remarks about a Thai army regional commander. A territorial dispute between Thailand and neighboring Cambodia has been escalating since May.
Public dissatisfaction over the prime minister's handling of the conflict exploded after the leaked audio.
Some protesters said the prime minister is too weak on Cambodia. They chanted, demanding that the prime minister leave office.
On June 19, the second-largest ruling party pulled itself out of the ruling coalition in protest. The following day, a group of Senators submitted formal letters to the Constitutional Court, requesting the removal of the prime minister from office.
Paetongtarn has not given into the demands.
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The Diplomat
2 hours ago
- The Diplomat
Why Did Hun Sen Call For Regime Change in Thailand?
I strongly recommend readers take a look at Vu Lam's recent commentary in The Interpreter, which I cannot agree with more. Referring to the phone call with Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra that Hun Sen, Cambodia's former premier, leaked earlier this month, Vu noted that it illustrates 'what may be termed diplomatic authority drift, the growing trend of foreign policy influence shifting to individuals outside formal executive roles, often without mandate or oversight.' So might what Hun Sen said following this leak. In a previous column, I called Hun Sen's decision to leak the phone call a supreme example of the Machiavellian instincts that kept him in power for four decades. But what he said afterwards was not so cunning. On June 24, in a Facebook post, he said that Thailand would have a new leader within three months, adding, 'I already can tell who the next Prime Minister will be, but I'll leave that to the imagination.' Three days later, in a four-hour television address, he commented: 'I hope there will be a new prime minister in Thailand who will come out and solve issues with neighboring countries, especially with Cambodia.' Hun Sen's spokesman, Chea Thyrith, then followed this up by telling Bloomberg, 'The current [Thai] government does not have enough power to make decisions in consensus to represent Thailand in solving border disputes…We are happy to work with every new government that has enough power to represent Thailand.' Paetongtarn shot herself in the foot by trusting Hun Sen enough to reveal her own government's opinions about its military, and Hun Sen can claim some justification for leaking it. However, to then follow this up with calls for Thailand to remove its prime minister and appoint a new one is a blatant violation of the principle of non-interference. How is this not a call for regime change? Thai Vice Foreign Minister Ras Chaleechan was being slightly hyperbolic, but not too much, when he commented, 'In nearly six decades since ASEAN's founding, there has never been an instance of one member state so openly aiming to destabilize the government of another member state. Such actions, therefore, also serve to destabilize ASEAN as a whole.' How can Phnom Penh now claim with a straight face that it is the victim of sovereignty violation? Just last week, Hun Sen accused Thailand of violating 'ASEAN's core principle of non-interference in member states' internal affairs' by apparently allowing exiled Cambodian opposition members to operate inside Thailand. People who live in glass houses, Hun Sen. Neither does it seemingly help Cambodia's cause. As I argued previously, Phnom Penh is eager to garner international support. It has initiated proceedings to take the border dispute with Thailand to the International Court of Justice, a move that Bangkok opposes but which demonstrates Phnom Penh's adherence to international law. The Cambodian government has also spoken about taking the matter to the United Nations Security Council. Against this, Bangkok's refusal to allow a third party to adjudicate has made it look parochial and bullying. The second prong of this campaign has been to portray Cambodia as a victim of Thai political instability, in which the border disputes are merely an extension of power struggles between the Thai military and civilian government. Paetongtarn's comments played into this narrative, which explains why Hun Sen was motivated to leak the recording. However, explicitly calling for regime change in a neighboring country certainly doesn't make Phnom Penh appear to be the upholder of international norms, including non-interference in other countries' affairs, which is essentially the only principle the ASEAN states have ever agreed upon. Technically, Phnom Penh can say that Hun Sen's comments were simply those of the president of the country's ruling party and Senate president, so not the opinions of the sitting government. Indeed, Hun Sen doesn't sit in the cabinet. But everyone knows he is the government; he is the power in Cambodia. So, the de facto position of the Cambodian government is that there needs to be a change of government in Thailand. Importantly, neither Prime Minister Hun Manet (Hun Sen's son) nor any other Cambodian minister has opposed what Hun Sen said. This will have repercussions for Phnom Penh. No foreign leader will trust the Hun family again with personal information. Diplomatic relations will be set back. Hun Sen's standing in the region will be severely impacted. Moreover, the fact that Hun Manet hasn't come out to distance himself from his father's words, and the fact that Hun Sen has now seemingly taken back full control of government policy, make Hun Manet look weak. One imagines there will be strong words for Cambodia at the next ASEAN meetings. As my colleague Luke Hunt noted, it was not only an 'unfathomable breach of ASEAN protocol,' it was also a 'hard slap in the face for Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who, as the current chair of ASEAN, did score a bounty of praise for his handling of prickly issues at last month's summit of leaders.' But why did Hun Sen say it? One claim is that Hun Sen and the CPP want to divert Cambodians' attention from domestic issues, such as the state of the economy, and making the narrative all about Thai politics helps. But realistically, this could have been done without calling for regime change. Another is that Hun Sen believes internal instability in Thailand will benefit Cambodia's case by diverting Bangkok's attention from the border tensions. That's possible, though Paetongtarn's government was crumbling before he made his regime-change comments. Some more conspiratorial theories are also floating around. One is that Hun Sen wants to fast-track the demise of the Shinawatras over fear that their signature proposal to legalize gambling and casinos in Thailand would destroy Cambodia's casino industry, thus depriving Cambodia's elites of the backhanders and illicit money they garner from the industry. Another is that the Cambodian leadership and its networks are opposed to the Paetongtarn government's crackdown on the illegal scam industry along the Myanmar and Cambodia border. By happenstance, a major Amnesty International report was released on June 26 that alleged that the Cambodian government is 'acquiescent' and 'complicit' in the abuses happening in the scam compounds. 'Scamming compounds are allowed to thrive and flourish by the Cambodian government,' it added. The implication of this allegation, then, is that the CPP and its networks hope a new Thai government will be less eager to dismantle the scam industry and challenge Phnom Penh about its associations. Vice Foreign Minister Ras Chaleechan has made this allegation. 'As for why [Hun Sen] wants to undermine our current government,' he commented, 'part of the answer probably lies in the Thai government's serious policy of suppressing all forms of illegal businesses around our country.' Take that with a pinch of salt, though, since both sides are now trying to claim that the disputes are simply a spill-over of the domestic politics of the other country. More likely, Hun Sen lost his composure and allowed his personal anger at the Shinawatras to spill over. The fact that he made his more inflammatory comments in a four-hour speech, as is his wont, was likely another instance (in a long list of them) of Hun Sen speaking without thinking. Maybe it's his desperation to secure his son's power. Maybe the sense of authority went to his head. After all, his leaking of the Paetongtarn phone call was an impressive power play, sparking what is likely to be the downfall of another government. Hun Sen has certainly inflated his rhetoric in recent weeks and, for the first time since the 2023 leadership handover, seems quite intent on making it known that he remains the sole power in Cambodia. But this was certainly not one of the wisest things the Cambodian leader has done in his forty-odd years in power.
Japan Times
4 hours ago
- Japan Times
Solar and wind industries see existential threat in U.S. tax bill
As Senate Republicans debate President Donald Trump's tax and spending bill, renewable energy companies are reeling at what looks like a worst-case scenario for the industry. The latest version of the Senate bill includes a new excise tax on wind and solar projects with certain Chinese components, a late addition that stunned renewable advocates. Given China's dominance of the solar supply chain, developers would struggle to find ample equipment, including wafers, from other countries. The bill would also roll back clean energy tax credits sooner than the House version of the package. It would require wind and solar projects to be fully operational by the end of 2027 to qualify for incentives. Many observers had expected the Senate to ease the phaseout — not accelerate it. The moves by the Senate, as it seeks to cut spending to offset trillions of dollars in tax cuts, "came out of left field' and shocked the industry, according to Ben King, an associate director with research group Rhodium Group's Energy & Climate practice. If passed in its current form, the "One Big, Beautiful Bill' would threaten billions of dollars of investments, hobbling energy development at a time of skyrocketing power demand. It would also risk causing household energy bills to spike higher. "The willingness of the Senate to suggest policy changes that will dramatically increase cost of energy to their consumers and sacrifice significant job growth is very surprising,' said Jason Grumet, chief executive officer of the American Clean Power Association, or ACP, an industry trade group. "It suggests that the effort to repolarize this debate is now taking precedence over their actual constituent interests.' Republican Senators Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley of Iowa, along with Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, worked Monday to advance an amendment to soften the clean electricity tax credit phaseout and jettison the proposed excise tax. The tax is "unprecedented,' and "the extremity of the proposal may motivate key Senators to support excise tax repeal,' analysts for research provider Capstone wrote in a note Monday. ACP estimates the new tax would raise costs on American clean energy companies by $4 billion to $7 billion in the next 10 years, while Rhodium projects it will result in a 10% to 20% increase in the cost of building wind and solar. Solar panels at the Cascadilla Community Solar Farm, owned by Cornell University, in Dryden, New York on April 10, 2023. | Bloomberg That cost increase would "drive down deployment' and, for some new solar and wind facilities that would otherwise be economically competitive with natural gas, push them "out of the sweet spot,' said King. Because this kind of policy has never been implemented before, the uncertainty it introduces would have a "chilling effect' on investment in renewables, he added. The current proposal would also prevent 300 gigawatts of wind and solar — on par with the output of 300 nuclear reactors — from being brought online within the next 15 years, ACP estimates, which Grumet called a "dramatic interruption' of bringing power to the grid as demand soars. Natural gas couldn't easily fill the gap, due to a shortage of turbines, while nuclear power plants take years to bring online. Industry wasn't alone in its dismay over the changes. On his platform X, Elon Musk called the bill "political suicide for the Republican Party' and "utterly insane and destructive' in its impact on energy. Labor groups assailed the potential for job losses, with North America's Building Trades Unions President Sean McGarvey calling the legislation "the biggest job-killing bill in the history of this country.' "The president has demanded that renewable energy credits for wind and solar be terminated as soon as humanly possible, and the Senate bill meets that request,' White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in an email. Asked earlier Monday to respond to an allegation the excise tax would be tantamount to terminating more than a thousand Keystone XL pipeline projects, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said the president understands "legislators want to protect jobs in their communities and in their districts, and so he understands why some of them are against this provision, but he also understands why people want the provision.' The Trump administration has made a concerted push to shift federal policy to favor fossil fuels over renewables. Agencies have moved to strip $3.7 billion in loan support for low— and zero-emission power projects and unexpectedly paused construction of an offshore wind farm for weeks, both unprecedented moves. But the clean energy incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act have spurred investment predominantly in red states and districts, giving some congressional Republicans reason to think twice about nixing them. As lawmakers debate the bill, one thing is clear: Its current iteration would "signal a real step back' on the energy transition, according to Rhodium's King. "Decarbonization effectively flatlines from where we are today,' he said.
Japan Times
5 hours ago
- Japan Times
Thai political crisis deepens as Shinawatras face legal battles
Thailand's most influential political dynasty is facing two high-profile legal battles, with an unfavorable outcome for Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra likely to deepen a political crisis that's already pushed her government to the brink of collapse. On Tuesday, the Constitutional Court may decide whether to accept a petition seeking her ouster, while a separate court is set to begin the trial of a decade-old royal insult case against her father, Thaksin Shinawatra. The petition, filed by a group of senators, accuses the prime minister of violating ethical standards outlined in the constitution — grounds that could lead to her disqualification. The case relates to her remarks in a leaked phone call with former Cambodian leader Hun Sen last month regarding a border dispute. If the court accepts the case, it may also decide to suspend Paetongtarn from performing prime ministerial duties until a ruling is issued. Such an outcome would likely worsen the political uncertainty and risk bringing government functioning to a standstill. It could also cast doubt on a new Cabinet lineup intended to fill vacancies left by the exit of a key coalition partner and shore up support among remaining allies. The 38-year-old premier has resisted calls to resign over the leaked phone call, in which she criticized the Thai army's handling of the border standoff with Cambodia. She has said that an adverse court decision could impact tariff talks with the U.S. scheduled for Thursday. A protester wears a face mask with the colors of the Thai flag during an anti-government demonstration in Bangkok, Thailand, on Saturday. | Bloomberg "We have to let the process take its course. Am I worried? Yes,' Paetongtarn told reporters on Monday. "We're trying to focus on the work process first, as we don't want anything to be disrupted.' Meanwhile, Thaksin — Paetongtarn's father and the de facto leader of the ruling Pheu Thai Party — is scheduled to appear before a criminal court in Bangkok on Tuesday for the first of seven hearings in a case that could see him jailed under the stringent lese majeste law. The law carries a maximum jail term of 15 years for each offense of defaming the monarchy. The barrage of legal challenges facing the Shinawatra family is fueling fears of renewed unrest in Thailand. A large protest over the weekend demanding Paetongtarn's resignation has already weighed on investor sentiment. Concerns over escalating protests have further rattled foreign investors, who have pulled more than $2 billion from Thai stocks this year. Thailand's benchmark SET Index is already under pressure, down about 22% this year — making it the worst-performing major equity market globally. The country's economy is strained by Southeast Asia's highest household debt and the looming threat of a punitive 36% U.S. tariff on Thai exports, which analysts predict will undermine private consumption and corporate earnings. The unfolding legal threats add to Thailand's long history of political instability, where multiple prime ministers have been removed either by court rulings or military coups. Paetongtarn's immediate predecessor, Srettha Thavisin, was dismissed by the Constitutional Court for an ethics violation, while governments led by both Thaksin and his sister Yingluck Shinawatra were overthrown in military takeovers. The charges against Thaksin, 75, stem from a 2015 interview he gave in Seoul, shortly after the coup that ousted his sister's government. Prosecutors allege that his remarks violated Article 112 of Thailand's penal code — the lese majeste law. Thaksin, who has denied the charges, is out on bail but has been barred from traveling outside the country without the court's permission.
