Thailand's Youngest Woman Prime Minister Has Been Suspended After A Leaked Phone Call With Cambodia’s Ex-Prime Minister
Paetongtarn was heard calling Hun Sen “uncle” and telling him not to listen to "the other side" in Thailand, referring to a prominent Thai military commander who she said “just wants to look good”.
Thailand's youngest woman prime minister has been suspended after a phone call she had with Cambodia's former prime minister was leaked, plunging the country into political chaos.
Thailand and Cambodia have been fighting over control of a disputed area along their shared border for over a century.
On May 28, tensions reignited when Thai and Cambodian soldiers clashed for 10 minutes at the border, and a Cambodian soldier was killed in the fighting.
Thailand's prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra then arranged to have an informal conversation with Cambodia's former prime minister Hun Sen, who is a friend of her father and former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Although the call was supposed to be unofficial without the governments not keeping records, Hun Sen recorded the entire conversation reportedly without Paetongtarn's knowledge.
On June 16, Hun Sen released the phone call on his Facebook page, causing a huge scandal.
In the phone call, Paetongtarn was heard calling Hun Sen “uncle” and telling him not to listen to "the other side" in Thailand, referring to a prominent Thai military commander who she said “just wants to look good”.
Paetongtarn's submissive tone and criticism of the military commander were seen as deeply embarrassing for the Thai government, especially when the military plays a powerful role in Thailand's politics.
People were also angered by Paetongtarn's tone and accused her of not defending the country's interests.
In response, a key partner party of Paetongtarn's Pheu Thai party withdrew from government, significantly weakening Pheu Thai's majority in parliament.
The next day, Paetongtarn issued an apology and said that the call was "100% for the country", adding that she was only thinking about how to avoid chaos.
However, 36 senators then filed a petition to Thailand’s Constitutional Court on June 20, accusing Paetongtarn of dishonesty and breaching ethical standards in violation of Thailand constitution and calling for her to be dismissed.
Thousands of people also took to the streets of Bangkok to call for her resignation.
The court accepted the case on July 1 and voted 7 to 2 in favor of suspending Paetongtarn from her duties while under the ethics investigation.
Paetongtarn accepted the ruling and had 15 days to respond to the allegations.
However, right before she was suspended, Paetongtarn had reshuffled and named a new cabinet after the other party's withdrawal and named herself the Minister of Culture.The new cabinet, including Paetongtarn, was sworn in by Thailand's king just hours before she was suspended.
Many view this as a move by Paetongtarn to remain involved in the government despite her suspension.
Paetongtarn, who has no prior experience in politics, had become prime minister only 10 months ago in August 2024.
She had been chosen after her predecessor Srettha Thavisin was also suspended by the constitutional court for "violating ethical standards" because he had appointed a lawyer who had been jailed for attempting to bribe government officials, to his cabinet.
However, Srettha wasn't even the prime minister the Thai people had elected in May 2023.
During that election, voters had rejected the military government that had ruled for years since a coup in 2006 and gave the most votes to the young, progressive Move Forward Party.
Move Forward wanted to promote democracy, remove the military’s influence on politics and revise the lèse-majesté law, which jails people for criticizing the monarchy.
But the senate, whose members are mostly appointed by the military, then blocked Move Forward’s leader, Pita Limjaroenrat, from becoming prime minister.
Move Forward was later disbanded by Thailand’s constitutional court, which found that its attempt to revise the lèse-majesté law amounted to attempting to overthrow the monarchy.
Meanwhile, the new deputy prime minister named in the new cabinet has taken over as caretaker prime minister while the court decides on the case against Paetongtarn.
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Kassy Cho
Kassy Cho
