BANGKOK, Aug 30: Thailand’s Constitutional Court has removed suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from office, ruling that she violated ethical standards during a phone call with Cambodia’s former leader Hun Sen, Al Jazeera reported. The 39-year-old politician becomes the fifth prime minister ousted by Thai courts since 2008, raising fears of political instability and a potential snap election.
According to Al Jazeera, the nine-judge court, widely seen as aligned with Thailand’s royalist military establishment, said Paetongtarn “seriously violated” her responsibilities when she addressed Hun Sen amid rising tensions along the Thailand-Cambodia border. Leaked recordings reportedly showed her addressing Hun Sen as “uncle” and criticizing a senior Thai army commander as an “opponent.” These border tensions later escalated into clashes that killed dozens and displaced tens of thousands.
Al Jazeera reported that the court argued Paetongtarn prioritized personal interests over national welfare, undermining public confidence in her leadership. The judges voted six to three to immediately terminate her ministership. Following the verdict, Paetongtarn insisted she acted to protect the country’s interests, urging political unity. “My intentions were for the benefit of the country, not personal gain, but for the lives of the people, including civilians and soldiers,” she said, Al Jazeera noted.
PM Oli, Thai PM Shinawatra holding meeting today
Thailand’s Bhumjaithai party told Al Jazeera it was negotiating with other parties to form a government and believed it could secure enough support in parliament. This ruling comes less than a year after her predecessor, Srettha Thavisin, was also removed for alleged ethical breaches.
Experts quoted by Al Jazeera, including Napon Jatusripitak of the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, called the decision an example of judicial overreach. “It affirms a troubling pattern in which an unelected panel of judges decides the country’s political future, overriding democratic mandates,” Al Jazeera quoted him saying.
Al Jazeera reported that this decision is one of three high-profile court cases involving Paetongtarn and her father, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin, who returned to Thailand in 2023 after 16 years in self-imposed exile, faces ongoing legal challenges, including a case over his hospital stay rather than imprisonment. His return followed a general election in which his Pheu Thai Party won one-third of parliamentary seats and entered a coalition with conservative parties, some backed by the military that had previously toppled him and his sister Yingluck.
Supporters see the ruling as a move by conservative forces to weaken the Shinawatra dynasty. Paisarn Janpen, a Pheu Thai supporter, told Al Jazeera, “There’s no coincidence this is a movement to wipe the Shinawatra family off the map… The silver lining is that the whole world now knows these nine judges can topple leaders.” Analysts warn that the conservative establishment may leverage the remaining case against Thaksin to reshape coalition dynamics, potentially relegating Pheu Thai to a junior role in government, Al Jazeera reported.
Under Thailand’s constitution, only politicians nominated before the 2023 election can form a government. Pheu Thai has one eligible candidate left, Chaikasem Nitisiri, a Thaksin loyalist. Conservative alternatives include Anutin Charnvirakul of Bhumjaithai and Prayuth Chan-ocha, the former coup leader and ex-prime minister, who would need to resign from the Privy Council to return to politics, Al Jazeera reported.
Thitinan Pongsudhirak, professor at Chulalongkorn University, told Al Jazeera that Anutin appears the most viable candidate, with potential to form a coalition where Pheu Thai retains influence while Bhumjaithai leads. If a government cannot be agreed upon, a snap election could be called, though Thitinan warned this would not solve Thailand’s political gridlock. “Elected governments get overthrown, while autocratic forces that do the overthrowing cannot be elected,” he said, describing a persistent pattern that has stalled reform and progress in Thai politics, Al Jazeera reported.
