On August 29, Thailandʼs Constitutional Court removed Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from office for violating ethical standards and failing to protect national interests.
This is reported by The Guardian.
Thailandʼs Constitutional Court ruled that the prime minister violated constitutional ethics rules during a telephone conversation with Cambodian President Hun Sen in June 2025. During that conversation, she addressed Hun Sen as "uncle" and said that if he needed anything, she would "take care of it".
She also made critical remarks about one of Thailandʼs top military commanders.
The court ruling means the prime minister immediately loses her position, which she has held for about a year. The decision paves the way for the election of a new prime minister. The process could be delayed as the ruling Paetongtarn “Pheu Thai” party loses its majority in parliament.
Paetongtarn apologized for her words, calling them a negotiating tactic. However, the leak of the conversation caused a serious political crisis for her government. In particular, in June, one of her coalition partners quit her government, leaving Shinawatra with a slim majority. Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Bangkok to demand her resignation.
The phone call also caused a deterioration in Thai-Cambodian relations. Within weeks of the leak, the border dispute escalated into a five-day conflict that left dozens dead and hundreds of thousands displaced.
The full transcript of the conversation was released by Hun Sen himself, who also threatened to release additional compromising information about Paetongtarnʼs father Thaksin, who was also a former prime minister of Thailand. It is known that Hun Sen was once a long-time friend of Thaksin, but for unknown reasons the two are now bitterly at odds.
Shinawatra (39) was already temporarily suspended from office on July 1, 2025, pending an investigation. This came after a recording of her conversation with Hun Sen was leaked, in which they discussed the border conflict between the neighbouring states.
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