Thailand’s Constitutional Court has officially removed Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from office, ruling that she violated ethical standards during a controversial phone call with Cambodia’s former leader, Hun Sen, amid a deadly border conflict.
The court said Paetongtarn, 39, put her personal and political interests ahead of the nation’s, failed to show integrity, and damaged Thailand’s reputation in a time of national crisis. She becomes the fifth Thai prime minister since 2008 to be ousted by the courts.
At the center of the case was a leaked phone call from June 2025 between Paetongtarn and former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. In the recording, she referred to Hun Sen warmly as “uncle” while criticizing a high-ranking Thai army commander, calling him an “opponent.” This took place just as tensions were escalating along the Thai-Cambodian border.
The Thai court said this language showed poor judgment and partiality. Instead of acting as a neutral leader in a sensitive situation, Paetongtarn was accused of taking sides and undermining her own military during a national security crisis.
Following the phone call, the border dispute escalated into armed clashes, killing dozens and displacing tens of thousands on both sides of the border. The violence lasted several weeks and only stopped after a Malaysia-brokered ceasefire was reached on July 29, 2025.
Before the final verdict, Paetongtarn had already been suspended from her duties on July 1 while the court deliberated.
Paetongtarn is the daughter of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a polarizing figure in Thai politics who was himself ousted in a 2006 military coup and later convicted of corruption.
While Paetongtarn led the Pheu Thai Party to electoral victory in 2024, her time in office was short and turbulent.
This ruling is only one of three legal cases currently involving the Shinawatra family:
Paetongtarn’s removal follows this ethics case.
Thaksin was recently cleared of royal defamation charges under Thailand’s strict lese majeste laws.
Another case remains open against Thaksin over why he spent time in a hospital VIP ward in 2023 instead of serving a prison sentence.
Thailand’s political future is once again uncertain. Paetongtarn’s removal could open the door for a power struggle within the Pheu Thai Party and spark further protests in a country where democracy and the military have long clashed.
Many analysts believe the verdict signals a decline of the Shinawatra political dynasty, once dominant in Thai politics but now increasingly cornered by legal and institutional challenges.
