Bangkok, Aug 30: Thailand’s Constitutional Court has removed Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from office and dissolved her cabinet. She has become the fifth Thai leader since 2008 to be ousted by the court.
Her suspension in July followed the leak of a phone call with former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, which sparked controversy. At 37, Paetongtarn was Thailand’s youngest prime minister and only the second woman to hold the position. Her exit is a major setback for the Shinawatra family, which has dominated Thai politics for decades.
According to the BBC, the backdrop is a long-running border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia. Tensions escalated earlier this year, leading to armed clashes in July. The fighting left many dead and forced the evacuation of more than 100,000 people. In May, a Cambodian soldier was killed. Two weeks later, Paetongtarn’s 17-minute call to Hun Sen was leaked. Intended to ease tensions, it instead fueled public anger once it became public.
Thai politics has been shaped by this family’s legacy. In 2006, then Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was accused of corruption and disloyalty to the king, leading to street protests and a military coup. Thaksin fled in 2008 and returned only in 2023 after 15 years in exile. His Thai Rak Thai Party was banned, later replaced by the Pheu Thai Party. Four prime ministers have come from the family.
In the 2023 election, the youth-led Move Forward Party won the most seats but was barred from forming a government after being dissolved by the Constitutional Court. The Pheu Thai Party then built a coalition with rivals to govern. In August 2024, parliament removed another Pheu Thai prime minister and elected Paetongtarn as a compromise candidate. She was seen as weak in the role.
The leaked phone call with Hun Sen added to the perception. Reports said she addressed him as “uncle” during the conversation, reflecting the close ties between Hun Sen and her father.
Since 1992, Thailand has been a constitutional monarchy. The king is head of state, but governments function under constitutional rules. Military coups remain possible only with royal approval. The last coup took place in 2014, one of many in Thai history.
The current constitution, the country’s twentieth, was introduced in 2017 under military rule. It was drafted by a pro-military committee and contains provisions that weaken political parties and leaders, including powers to ban them. Courts have repeatedly been used to sideline elected governments.
In the last two decades, six prime ministers have been suspended by the Constitutional Court. Analysts told the BBC this is not coincidence but a deliberate tactic to steer politics in a certain direction, made possible by Thailand’s fragile democratic framework.
People’s News Monitoring Service
Login to add a comment