- Thailand’s leader was sidelined during investigations Paetongtarn Shinawatra Suspension into leaked telephone conversations.
- A Thai court has agreed to hear a petition filed by senators accusing the prime minister of unethical conduct and dishonesty.
- Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra is seen leaving Government House after a cabinet meeting in Bangkok on July 1, 2025.
- Thailand’s Constitutional Court has suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from office pending an ethics investigation over a leaked phone call with a senior Cambodian official, heaping pressure on Thailand’s ruling family.
- Deputy Prime Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit will act as caretaker PM while the court decides the case against Paetongtarn, who has 15 days to respond.
Shinawatra Suspension
The Constitutional Court on Tuesday ordered Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra to step aside while the case to remove her from office is being heard, delivering a shock to an already fragile government.
The court accepted the case brought by 36 senators alleging unethical conduct on Chaokun Paetongtarn’s part, citing the former leader Hun Sen of Cambodia in an apparent phone conversation that was recorded and leaked. The call was supposed to soothe tensions concerning a border dispute and military buildup.
The leaked June 15 call has enraged the nation and left Paetongtarn’s coalition with a thin majority after a major party defected from the alliance and accused her of undermining the country, as protest groups plan more for demand a new government.
Paetongtarn’s battles after only 10 months in office show the intractable power struggle between the Shinawatra dynasty and the establishment backed by the army – a two-decade long grudge match that has seen two coups and legal judgements rejecting several governments and leaders.
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Growing Anger Over the Phone Call
King Maha Vajiralongkorn gave his approval to another round of Cabinet reshuffle following loss of a key party from the ruling coalition over a controversial call, before Paetongtarn was suspended by the court.
In the reshuffle, Paetongtarn also got the culture minister position, in addition to prime minister, but it’s not clear if she can take the oath to take up that role.
In the phone call about the border tensions, Paetongtarn could be heard calling Hun Sen a longtime friend of her father uncle. She also told him not to listen to a Thai regional army commander who had publicly criticized Cambodia about the border dispute and called him “an enemy”.
Thousands of conservative, nationalist protesters gathered in central Bangkok on Saturday to demand Paetongtarn’s resignation.
Another department inquires about a separate matter related to the phone conversations, and now there is a greater chance of her disqualification.
The PM is a Member of a Powerful Family
Paetongtarn, 38, is Thaksin’s youngest child. Her father is still loved by many of Thailand’s poor and working class who saw him as their hero.
But the family’s political fortunes may be in decline.Many of Thaksin’s followers were seen alienated after a deal between the two political rivals turned out to be a very thinly veiled attempt by him to serve his own self-interest.It allowed his return from exile in 2023 and the party he supported to form the new government while sidelining the progressive Move Forward Party which came first in the national election but was seen by the conservative establishment as a greater threat.
Since coming back to Thailand, Thaksin has had his share of legal problems. On Tuesday, he arrived in court to answer charges saying he had insulted the monarchy back in 2015. One investigation underway concerns his return to Thailand, where an eight-year sentence is being served involving charges of corruption and abuse of power.Eventually, he was moved to a hospital and at his age and for his health reasons, he was finally pardoned without spending even a night behind bars.
The complaints argue he didn’t serve his sentence properly and Thaksin could be forced to serve time.
