Thai court weighs removing PM Paetongtarn
Paetongtarn was suspended on Tuesday after the court decided to proceed with a petition demanding her resignation. It came amid a controversy over a leaked phone call with Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen.
Deputy Prime Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit stepped in as acting prime minister. He is also the transport minister and a member of Paetongtarn's Pheu Thai Party. The party leads the coalition government with a thin majority.
Thai media report that it's expected to take around a month or longer for a verdict to be handed down. Analysts believe the outcome could bring more political turmoil.
Protest leaders who demanded Paetongtarn's resignation have welcomed the suspension. They plan to hold a major demonstration in August.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Japan Today
an hour ago
- Japan Today
Thailand's new cabinet members take oaths, including suspended prime minister
Thailand's suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra arrives at Government House as she takes the oath of office as Minister of Culture in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, July 3, 2025.(AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit) Thailand's new cabinet members took their oaths of office Thursday, including the suspended prime minister who is under an ethics investigation for her remarks to a senior Cambodian leader. Paetongtarn Shinawatra was suspended as prime minister Tuesday, the same day Thailand's king endorsed a Cabinet lineup in which she would be the culture minister. Paetongtarn was smiling as she arrived at Government House for the swearing-in ceremony with other new members, but did not answer questions. Acting Prime Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit led the new cabinet members at the ceremony to receive the endorsement from King Maha Vajiralongkorn. Suriya is expected later to assign the acting prime minister duty to Phumtham Wechayachai, who was sworn in Thursday as deputy prime minister and interior minister. Phumtham had been deputy prime minister and defense minister since Paetongtarn took office last year. Paetongtarn has faced growing dissatisfaction over her handling of a border dispute with Cambodia, including an armed confrontation in May in which a Cambodian soldier was killed. In a leaked phone call with Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen, she attempted to defuse tensions — but instead set off a string of complaints and public protests. Critics said she went to far in appeasing Hun Sen and damaged Thailand's image and reputation. The Constitutional Court voted unanimously Tuesday to review a petition accusing her of a breach of the ethics, and voted 7-2 to immediately suspend her until it issues its ruling. The court gave Paetongtarn 15 days to give evidence to support her case. It's unclear when it will rule. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
The Diplomat
2 hours ago
- The Diplomat
What's Next for Thai Politics After the PM's Suspension From Office?
Thailand has once again been shunted into a period of political uncertainty, after the Constitutional Court's decision on Tuesday to suspend Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra while it investigates her conduct in a leaked call with Cambodia's former leader Hun Sen. Tuesday's ruling came in response to a petition filed by 36 conservative senators, accusing the 38-year-old leader of breaching ethical standards over the leaked call, which related to the ongoing border dispute with Cambodia. The Court said that there was 'sufficient cause to suspect' she breached ministerial ethics in the call, during which she criticized a Thai general and appeared deferential in her discussions with the 72-year-old Hun Sen. The ruling has opened up an interregnum of uncertain length. In its Tuesday ruling, the Constitutional Court ordered Paetongtarn to stop performing her duties until it announces a decision, and gave her 15 days to respond to the allegations made in the petition. She has since been appointed as culture minister in this week's cabinet reshuffle, in which capacity she will be able to attend cabinet meetings, despite the Constitutional Court's ruling. Meanwhile, Suriya Juangroongruangkit, the deputy prime minister and minister of transport, will serve as caretaker leader. The petition is just one of several legal and political challenges Paetongtarn has faced since the audio of the call with Hun Sen leaked on June 18. Since then, she has come under pressure from both sides of politics to resign, and Bhumjaithai, the second-largest party in her unsteady coalition, has withdrawn its support from the government, bringing it close to collapse. If the court removes Paetongtarn from office over the leaked call, the House of Representatives will convene to choose her successor – as it did last year, when Srettha Thavisin was removed from office for a similar violation by the Constitutional Court. Under the 2017 Constitution, the House will have to choose from the slate of prime ministerial candidates that were submitted at the 2023 election, and whose parties won at least 25 seats. This narrows down the choice to just six candidates: Chaikasem Nitisiri from Paetongtarn's Pheu Thai party, Anutin Charnvirakul from Bhumjaithai, Prawit Wongsuwan from the Palang Pracharath Party, Prayut Chan-o-cha and Pirapan Salirathvibagha from the United Thai Nation Party, and Jurin Laksanawisit from the Democrats. In any event, this would likely be settled fairly quickly – Srettha was removed from office on August 14 and Paetongtarn was sworn into office on the 19th – and represents the best case scenario in terms of stabilizing the ruling coalition (however temporarily). In this sense, a Constitutional Court ruling favorable to Paetongtarn will simply prolong the political tumult, while buying her only temporary reprieve. The same group of senators has also filed a petition with the National Anti-Corruption Commission, which could also lead to her removal from office, and there is a separate complaint with the Electoral Commission. Bhumjaithai has also announced plans to submit a motion of no-confidence in the government, and was due to do so when parliament reconvened today. Party spokesperson Boonthida Somchai said yesterday that the party would await the Constitutional Court's verdict on the prime minister's conduct, but this could easily be revived if Paetongtarn survives. It would need the support of the People's Party, but given that the latter has pushed strongly for the dissolution of the House and new elections, it can be expected to support such a vote. Then there is the street, an important front in Thai political warfare, where a new royalist protest group calling itself Ruam Palang Phaen Din (the United Force of the Land) has pledged to lead more protests calling for Paetongtarn's resignation, after the large Bangkok protest it organized on June 28. Ruam Palang Phaen Din includes many activists involved in 'yellow shirt' protests against other Shinawatra-aligned governments over the last two decades, including the protest movements that preceded military coups against Paetongtarn's father Thaksin (in 2006) and her aunt Yingluck Shinawatra (in 2014). Lurking beneath all of this, of course, is the deeper instability that is now baked into Thai politics: the inability or unwillingness of the country's conservative elites to permit the emergence of a genuinely democratic government. The same conservative forces that tossed Srettha out of office, and are threatening to do the same to the current Thai PM, also closed ranks to prevent the progressive Move Forward Party (MFP) from forming a government after the last election. While the threat posed by the MFP prompted conservative parties to broker a political pact with its previous nemesis, Thaksin's Pheu Thai party, allowing Thaksin to return to Thailand after more than 15 years of self-exile, the establishment now appears set on once again ending the Shinawatra dynasty's influence – perhaps for good. Political stability is a relative term, and even if the immediate crisis resolves itself (with or without Paetongtarn in office), there is little sign of an end to Thailand's seemingly endless cycles of political crisis and contention.
NHK
7 hours ago
- NHK
US strikes deal with Vietnam before trade deadline
US President Donald Trump has announced a trade deal with Vietnam, days before a pause on what Trump calls "reciprocal tariffs" will expire. Other trading partners are also racing to secure agreements before the June 9th deadline. Trump unveiled the terms on social media on Wednesday. He said the Southeast Asian country is willing to open its market in a way it has "never done before." He said all Vietnamese goods will face a 20 percent levy. It remains unclear if the earlier 10 percent global tariff is included in that figure. But the rate is much lower than a total of 46 percent the country faced in April. He also warned he will tax goods from other countries transited through Vietnam at 40 percent. US Media report the move is aimed at cracking down on Chinese products being routed through the country. In return, he said Vietnam has agreed to give the US "total access" to its markets, and lower tariffs on American goods. According to data from US Department of Commerce, Vietnam has the fourth-largest trade deficit with the US, right behind Mexico, the European Union and China. With the deadline closing in, the UK remains the only country that has officially signed an agreement. Washington is still negotiating with China, and the Financial Times reports that India may clinch a provisional trade agreement as soon as this week. Trump has also been ramping up the pressure on Tokyo. He said he is frustrated with the status of negotiations and has threatened to slap a rate as high as 30 to 35 percent on Japan.
