Thai PM Shinawatra suspended over leaked phone call

Thailand's Constitutional Court has suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra following public backlash over a leaked phone call with former Cambodian leader Hun Sen, in which she criticized a senior Thai military commander.

The court voted 7–2 on Monday to temporarily remove Paetongtarn from office while it deliberates on a petition seeking her dismissal. The prime minister now has 15 days to submit her defense. Deputy Prime Minister Suriya Jungrungruangkit has been appointed acting leader in her absence.

The suspension comes at a critical time for Paetongtarn, whose ruling coalition recently lost a key conservative partner, leaving her government with only a slim parliamentary majority. Her approval rating has also plunged — from 30.9% in March to just 9.2% in a poll conducted last weekend.

The leaked phone call, in which Paetongtarn referred to Hun Sen as “uncle” and criticized a Thai military figure, ignited public outrage and led to accusations that she was undermining Thailand’s military and sovereignty. While she has apologized, describing the remarks as part of a "negotiation strategy" amid border tensions, conservative lawmakers have pushed for her removal.

If dismissed, Paetongtarn would be the third member of the Shinawatra family — after her father Thaksin and aunt Yingluck — to be forced out of office before completing a term. She would also be the second Pheu Thai Party prime minister removed in less than a year, following Srettha Thavisin’s ousting in August 2024 for appointing a cabinet minister with a criminal conviction.

Paetongtarn, 38, became Thailand’s youngest-ever prime minister and its second female leader when she assumed office last year. Her rise marked a political comeback for the powerful Shinawatra family, who have faced repeated military coups and legal battles over the past two decades.

Meanwhile, her father, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, is facing his own legal troubles. On Tuesday, he appeared in court on lèse majesté charges related to a 2015 interview with a South Korean newspaper — making him one of the highest-profile figures to be prosecuted under Thailand's strict laws against insulting the monarchy.

Thaksin returned to Thailand in 2023 after 15 years in exile, as part of a fragile political compromise between the Pheu Thai Party and conservative forces, including the military and royalist groups that once ousted his governments in coups.

The Constitutional Court is expected to deliver a ruling on Paetongtarn’s future in the coming weeks.