Thailand's court sacks PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra for ethics violation

The Constitutional Court of Thailand on Friday sacked Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra for ethics violation.

The court sacked Paetongtarn after finding her guilty of an ethics violation in a p hone call with Cambodian politician Hun Sen . In their leaked conversation, critics said that she appeared to kowtow the former Cambodian leader.

“Due to a personal relationship that appeared aligned with Cambodia, the respondent was consistently willing to comply with or act in accordance with the wishes of the Cambodian side,” the court said in a statement.

The court further said that Paetongtarn “lacks the qualifications and possesses prohibited characteristics” under the Thai constitution to be the prime minister.

The phone call that ousted Paetongtarn

The removal of Paetongtarn is rooted in a phone call she had with former Cambodian leader Sen in June after a clash between the two countries’ soldiers along the disputed border.

Sen is the father of the current Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet. He ran Cambodia in one capacity or the other continuously from 1985 to 2023. He continues to be the head of the senate and the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) and wields great control over the country’s government and military.

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In the leaked call with Sen, Paetongtarn appeared to call the Cambodian leader “uncle” and appeared to criticise her own army’s actions in the border clashes.

For context, the Shinawatra family has long been on friendly terms with Sen and it appeared that Paetongtarn wanted to capitalise that relationship to resolve the crisis. But the leaked conversation has now led to her downfall.

In the conversation, Paetongtarn was further heard saying if Sen “wants anything, just tell me, and I will take care of it”.

What’s next for Thailand?

Paetongtarn has become the sixth member from or backed by Thailand’s powerful Shinawatra family to be removed as the prime minister either by the military or the judiciary in the past two decades in a power struggle in the country’s elites.

The court has sacked Paetongtarn after previously suspending her in July. Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai has served as the acting Prime Minister of Thailand since the suspension.

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The Thai parliament will now have to elect a new prime minister. Now Phumtham will preside over the government in a caretaker capacity until the election of the new prime minister. Fresh elections may be held in case of a prolonged deadlock.