Thailand’s suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra gave a statement in court on Thursday in a case seeking his removal from office over his handling of a border dispute with Cambodia.
Paetongtarn, the daughter of controversial but influential billionaire former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, has been accused of not standing up for the country in a phone call with Cambodia’s former leader Hun Sen, after the audio was leaked online.
The Constitutional Court, which removed his predecessor from office on moral grounds last year, will rule next Friday on whether to remove Paetongtarn from office. The court suspended him from office last month and summoned her to answer questions in the case on Thursday, her 39th birthday.
Smiling in a black business suit, she greeted reporters and arrived at the Bangkok courthouse with her top adviser, Promin Lartsourides. She answered questions from the judge for about an hour and a half, but the court has issued an injunction prohibiting the publication of details of the hearing.
The case centers on a June phone call with Cambodia’s longtime ruler and father of the current prime minister, Hun Sen. The call was about tensions over a disputed border. In the call, Paetongtarn referred to Hun Sen as “uncle” and a Thai military commander as his “rival.” It sparked widespread outrage in Thailand.
Conservative lawmakers accused her of siding with Cambodia and weakening Thailand’s powerful military. Her government nearly collapsed when a key partner in Petchton’s ruling coalition quit in protest after the phone call was leaked. A group of senators filed a lawsuit in court, saying the minister’s conduct violated constitutional provisions requiring “clear integrity” and “moral standards.”
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After Paetongtarn was suspended, Acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said, “I believe she acted in good faith. The country’s security was never compromised; rather, her intention was to keep Thailand away from conflict.” However, the incident plunged Thai–Cambodian relations into crisis.
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The border dispute escalated after Hun Sen made the phone conversation fully public online, leading to the deadliest clashes in decades. The conflict left more than 40 people dead and forced around 300,000 others from their homes.
If the court rules against her, Paetongtarn would become the third Shinawatra to lose the premiership, following her father Thaksin and her aunt Yingluck, both of whom were ousted in military coups. For the past two decades, Thai politics has been defined by the struggle between the conservative, military- and monarchy-aligned elite, and the Shinawatra family.
The elite regard the Shinawatras as a threat to the traditional social order of the state. Meanwhile, 76-year-old Thaksin is also facing a verdict in his own case on Friday. Bangkok’s criminal court is set to deliver a ruling on his lèse-majesté charge. The case stems from remarks he made in an interview with South Korean media a decade ago. If found guilty, he could face up to 15 years in prison. (RSS/AFP)
