Thai court suspends prime minister over leaked call
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been suspended, pending an ethics investigation


What happened
Thailand's Constitutional Court Tuesday suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra as it adjudicates an ethics complaint triggered by a leaked phone conversation between her and influential senior Cambodian lawmaker Hun Sen about a smoldering border dispute that had left a Cambodian soldier dead. In the June 15 call, recorded and shared by Hun Sen, Paetongtarn called him "uncle" and criticized a Thai army commander, a "red line in a country where the military has significant clout," Reuters said.
Who said what
Paetongtarn told reporters she accepted the court's decision and would try to prove that her "true intention" in the conversation "100% was to work for the country to maintain our sovereignty and save the lives of all our soldiers." The leaked recording "triggered domestic fury and has left Paetongtarn's coalition with a razor-thin majority" after its second-largest party quit the alliance, Reuters said. Her "battles after only 10 months in office" are the latest chapter in a "two-decade grudge match" between "the billionaire Shinawatra dynasty and an influential establishment backed by the army."
Paetongtarn, 38, is the third prime minister from her "powerful and polarizing" family, The New York Times said. Her father, Thaksin Shinawatra, was deposed in a 2006 coup and her aunt Yingluck Shinawatra was ousted by the Constitutional Court in 2014, two weeks before the military toppled her successor's government in another coup. Tuesday's court decision "raised questions" about whether the family's "political comeback last year would end with another downfall," The Associated Press said.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What next?
Deputy Prime Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit will serve as caretaker leader while the court decides Paetongtarn's fate.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Denmark's 'pornographic' mermaid statue is in hot water
Under the Radar Town will reportedly remove voluptuous Big Mermaid, despite statue being 'arguably a bit less naked' than Copenhagen monument the Little Mermaid
-
August 10 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include a global plastics problem, GOP enthusiasm over tariffs, and more
-
5 thin-skinned cartoons about shooting the messenger
Cartoons Artists take on unfavorable weather, a look in the mirror, and more
-
Trump officials reinstating 2 Confederate monuments
Speed Read The administration has plans to 'restore Confederate names and symbols' discarded in the wake of George Floyd's 2020 murder
-
Trump nominates Powell critic for vacant Fed seat
speed read Stephen Miran, the chair of Trump's Council of Economic Advisers and a fellow critic of Fed chair Jerome Powell, has been nominated to fill a seat on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors
-
ICE scraps age limits amid hiring push
Speed Read Anyone 18 or older can now apply to be an ICE agent
-
Trump's global tariffs take effect, with new additions
Speed Read Tariffs on more than 90 US trading partners went into effect, escalating the global trade war
-
House committee subpoenas Epstein files
Speed Read The House Oversight Committee has issued a subpoena to the Justice Department for its Jeffrey Epstein files with an Aug. 19 deadline
-
India rejects Trump threat over Russian oil
Speed Read The president said he would raise tariffs on India for buying and selling Russian oil
-
NY's Hochul vows response to Texas gerrymander
Speed Read Gov. Kathy Hochul has promised to play ball with redistricting that favors the Democrats
-
Texas Democrats exit state to block redistricting vote
Speed Read More than 51 legislators fled the state in protest of the GOP's plan to redraw congressional districts