Thai PM apologizes over remarks in leaked call with Cambodia ex-PM
Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra apologizes to the public in Bangkok on June 19, 2025. (Photo courtesy of Thai government)(Kyodo)
BANGKOK (Kyodo) -- Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra apologized Thursday for comments she made in a leaked conversation with Cambodia's former leader Hun Sen over a border clash between Thailand and Cambodian troops last month.
Paetongtarn is under pressure to resign after one of her coalition partners called on her to take responsibility for the comments, leaked by Cambodia, in which she called a prominent Thai army commander in charge of the border region an "opponent."
During the phone conversation Sunday about the May 28 confrontation, in which one Cambodian soldier died, Paetongtarn also called Hun Sen "uncle" and said she did not want him to listen to the army commander. Critics say the comments appeared to put Thailand in a subordinate position to Cambodia.
Hun Sen stepped down as Cambodian prime minister in August 2023 after 38 years in office, with his eldest son, Hun Manet, succeeding him. But Hun Sen, 72, has assumed the presidency of the Senate and retains significant influence in Cambodia politics.
"I have already spoken with the commander of the Second Army Region and clarified that I had no ill intentions," Paetongtarn, the youngest daughter of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, said at a press conference Thursday, calling her remarks "part of a tactic of communication."
"My goal was to demonstrate sincerity and understanding as a means to facilitate future negotiation and de-escalate tensions" at the border, said the 38-year-old, who became prime minister in August last year.
The Thai Foreign Ministry said it summoned the Cambodian ambassador to Thailand and lodged a protest with Cambodia about the leak of the recorded phone conversation.
The Thai and Cambodian armed forces have been in a standoff along the border since the deadly confrontation.
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