“Uncle.” That one word, said to a man who had run Cambodia for decades, helped end Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s time as Thailand’s prime minister.
The Constitutional Court removed her on Friday, 29 August 2025, by a vote of 6 to 3. It ruled that she “lacks the qualifications and possesses prohibited characteristics” under the constitution, and that she “lacked demonstrable honesty and integrity” and seriously breached ethical standards in a phone call with Hun Sen, Cambodia’s former leader.
The call took place on 15 June, while tension over the Thai-Cambodian border was rising. Hun Sen released the audio. Both sides confirmed it was genuine. On it, Paetongtarn calls Hun Sen “uncle,” appears to criticize her own army’s conduct in border clashes that had left a Cambodian soldier dead, and says that if he “wants anything, just tell me, and I will take care of it.” Those last words became the heart of the case. Judges found that she had put personal and family interests ahead of the state’s.
Opponents said she had sold out the national interest, at a moment when nationalist feeling was already running hot. Weeks later the two countries fought for five days. At least 38 people died, most of them civilians, and hundreds of thousands left their homes.
Paetongtarn had apologized earlier to Thais who “may feel uneasy or upset about this matter,” and said her remarks were a negotiating technique to calm things down. After the ruling she held a news conference. “This is another time that the court’s decision has created a sudden political change,” she said. “As a Thai, I love my nation, religion and the king. Thank you everyone who gave me knowledge and experience.”
A familiar pattern
She had served only a year. She became the country’s youngest prime minister in August 2024. The court had suspended her from prime ministerial duties on 1 July, and she stayed in the cabinet as culture minister after a reshuffle.
Her removal fits a long run of court decisions in Thai politics. Her predecessor, Srettha Thavisin, was removed by the same court the year before. Her aunt Yingluck Shinawatra was removed before the army seized power in 2014, and her uncle Somchai Wongsawat lost the premiership in a court ruling in 2008. Her father, Thaksin Shinawatra, spent more than 15 years in self-imposed exile after the military toppled his government in 2006. Only the week before, a lese majeste case that could have put him in prison for up to 15 years failed against him.
In the last three years the courts have removed two prime ministers and dissolved a party that won an election. CNN described the establishment as a small, powerful clique of military, royalist and business elites.
Who comes next
With the prime minister gone, her cabinet goes too, and ministers serve in an acting capacity until parliament elects a successor. Pheu Thai has to put forward a candidate for a vote in the 500-seat house. Its one remaining choice is former justice minister Chaikasem Nitisiri, and it was unclear whether coalition partners would back him. Anutin Charnvirakul, leader of Bhumjaithai and another possible candidate, had already quit the coalition and resigned as deputy prime minister and interior minister over the call.
If Pheu Thai cannot find a candidate, fresh elections become possible, with the party in a far weaker position. Some analysts told CNN the establishment might still prefer a Thaksin-backed party as a barrier against the reformist People’s Party, the main opposition.
Sources
- Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra Removed by Constitutional Court Over Leaked Call – Thai Times
- Thailand’s prime minister removed from office over leaked phone call scandal with Cambodian strongman | CNN
