Thailand’s Constitutional Court removed Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from office, ruling that her conduct during a leaked telephone conversation with former Cambodian leader Hun Sen amounted to a serious ethical violation. The nine judges voted six to three to terminate her premiership with immediate effect.
The conversation took place amid mounting tension along the Thai-Cambodian border. In the call, Paetongtarn addressed Hun Sen as “uncle” and criticised a senior Thai army commander. Hun Sen later released the recording. Paetongtarn’s critics said her approach weakened Thailand’s position, while she maintained that the private contact was intended to protect lives and prevent violence.
The court concluded that the prime minister’s personal manner toward Hun Sen and her comments about the military put individual considerations ahead of the national interest. Judges said the episode undermined public confidence and failed the ethical requirements of her office. Paetongtarn had already been suspended while the case was under review.
After the verdict, Paetongtarn accepted the decision but rejected the idea that she had acted for personal gain. She called for unity and said her objective had been to serve the country and safeguard civilians and soldiers. The border confrontation later developed into five days of fighting in which dozens of people were killed and hundreds of thousands displaced.
Paetongtarn, 39, became the fifth Thai prime minister removed by the Constitutional Court since 2008. She was also the second premier dismissed by the court within a year, following Srettha Thavisin. The ruling dealt another setback to the Shinawatra family: her father, Thaksin, was deposed in a 2006 military coup, and her aunt Yingluck was removed by the same court in 2014.
The dismissal opened a new struggle over forming a government. Under constitutional rules, parliament would have to select a prime minister from candidates nominated by parties before the 2023 election. Pheu Thai retained one eligible nominee, former justice minister Chaikasem Nitisiri. Conservative Bhumjaithai leader Anutin Charnvirakul was another potential contender, and his party said after the ruling that it had secured enough support to try to form a government.
If lawmakers could not agree on a viable coalition, an early election was a possibility. The court’s decision therefore did more than end one premiership: it shifted negotiations among parties at a time when Thailand was already facing the consequences of border conflict and economic uncertainty. The supplied reporting did not establish a settled successor on the day Paetongtarn was removed. The leadership change remained subject to parliamentary bargaining among parties with sharply different political alignments.
