Thai PM leaves office after controversial call with Cambodian leader

Thailand’s Constitutional Court has removed Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from office following a damaging leaked phone call with Cambodia’s Hun Sen. The conversation, which Hun Sen later made public, showed Paetongtarn speaking casually with him and criticizing Thailand’s military during a period of heightened border tensions, according to the BBC.

The court took issue with Paetongtarn calling Hun Sen «uncle» and questioned whether she was putting Cambodia’s interests ahead of Thailand’s. The ruling marks another dramatic turn in Thai politics and continues a pattern of judicial intervention against the powerful Shinawatra family.

This isn’t the first time a Shinawatra has been forced out of power. Paetongtarn’s father Thaksin was ousted in a 2006 coup, and her aunt Yingluck was removed by the courts in 2014. She becomes the fifth Thai prime minister since 2008 to be dismissed by judicial action.

As parliament scrambles to choose her successor, two main candidates have emerged: Chaikasem Nitisiri from the Pheu Thai party and Anutin Charnvirakul from the Bhumjaithai party, which recently dropped its support for Paetongtarn. The latest upheaval raises fresh questions about Thailand’s political stability and whether the once-dominant Shinawatra family can maintain its grip on power.