BANGKOK, Thailand—Thailand’s Constitutional Court on Tuesday suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from office pending deliberations over her handling of a border crisis with neighboring Cambodia.
The decision injects further uncertainty into Thailand’s already turbulent politics at a moment when the country is seeking relief from the Trump administration on a 36% “reciprocal” tariff set to come into force later this
BANGKOK, Thailand—Thailand’s Constitutional Court on Tuesday suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from office pending deliberations over her handling of a border crisis with neighboring Cambodia.
The decision injects further uncertainty into Thailand’s already turbulent politics at a moment when the country is seeking relief from the Trump administration on a 36% “reciprocal” tariff set to come into force later this month. The court could remove Paetongtarn from office permanently once it issues its full judgment, as it has done with four of her predecessors.
A group of 36 Thai senators had lodged a complaint with the Constitutional Court over a phone conversation she had with Hun Sen, the former prime minister of Cambodia. In the call, arranged after a deadly confrontation between Thai and Cambodian soldiers on the two countries’ disputed border in late May, Paetongtarn referred to Hun Sen as an “uncle” and called Thailand’s powerful military her “opponent.”
A recording of their conversation was leaked and later formally released by the office of Hun Sen, who retains broad sway over Cambodian politics even after ceding the office of prime minister to his son in 2023. Paetongtarn’s deferential tone prompted a key party to pull out of her coalition, with its leader accusing her of endangering Thailand’s sovereignty and integrity.
Over the weekend, thousands of Thais marched through the capital demanding her resignation.
The daughter of Thailand’s former prime minister and telecommunications tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra, Paetongtarn became Southeast Asia’s youngest leader last year, after the Constitutional Court removed her immediate predecessor, Srettha Thavisin. Should the court take the same step for her, Paetongtarn, now 38 years old, would become the third member of her family to be ousted as prime minister before the end of their term.
Speaking to journalists outside Bangkok’s palatial Government House, Paetongtarn said she accepted the court’s decision but defended her call with Hun Sen as an effort in soft diplomacy.
“I had no personal agenda,” she said. “My only thought was how to avoid chaos, how to prevent conflict, how to ensure our soldiers do not have to shed blood. I would not be able to live with myself if what I said to a national leader resulted in harm, conflict, or resentment.”
She now has 15 days to submit her defense to the court. Paetongtarn said Deputy Prime Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit would take over her duties until the final ruling.
Paetongtarn had little political experience or public profile until she entered—and lost—the 2023 election race. That vote’s winner, a progressive upstart party that had pushed for bold curbs on the power of the military and the monarchy, landed in the crosshairs of the establishment and put forward Srettha as a compromise candidate.
Write to Gabriele Steinhauser at Gabriele.Steinhauser@wsj.com
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