Thailand’s embattled prime minister was suspended from duty Tuesday and could face dismissal pending an ethics probe over a leaked phone call she had with Cambodia’s powerful former leader.

Paetongtarn Shinawatra, 38, has only held the premiership for 10 months after replacing her predecessor, who was removed from office. Her suspension brings fresh uncertainty to a country roiled by years of political turbulence and leadership shake-ups.

The Constitutional Court accepted a petition brought by a group of 36 senators who accused Paetongtarn of violating the constitution for breaching ethical standards in the leaked call, which was confirmed as authentic by both sides.

The court voted to suspend Paetongtarn from her prime ministerial duties until it reaches a verdict in the ethics case. Paetongtarn will remain in the Cabinet as culture minister following a reshuffle.

Paetongtarn has faced increasing calls to resign, with anti-government protesters taking to the streets of the capital Bangkok on Saturday, after the leaked call with Cambodia’s Hun Sen over an escalating border dispute sparked widespread anger in the country.

The scandal prompted the Bhumjaithai party, a major partner of the prime minister’s government, to withdraw from the coalition last week, dealing a major blow to her Pheu Thai party’s ability to hold power. Paetongtarn is also contending with plummeting approvals ratings and faces a no-confidence vote in parliament.

In the leaked call, which took place on June 15, Paetongtarn could be heard calling former Cambodian strongman Hun Sen “uncle” and appeared to criticize her own army’s actions after border clashes led to the death of a Cambodian soldier last month.

The Thai prime minister could be heard telling Hun Sen that she was under domestic pressure and urged him not to listen to the “opposite side,” in which she referred to an outspoken Thai army commander in Thailand’s northeast.

She also added that if Hun Sen “wants anything, he can just tell me, and I will take care of it.”

Her comments in the leaked audio struck a nerve in Thailand, and opponents accused her of compromising the country’s national interests.

Thailand and Cambodia have had a complicated relationship of both cooperation and rivalry in recent decades. The two countries share a 508-mile (817-kilometer) land border – largely mapped by the French while they occupied Cambodia – that has periodically seen military clashes and been the source of political tensions.

In the wake of the scandal, Paetongtarn tried to downplay her remarks to Hun Sen, saying at a press conference she was trying to diffuse tensions between the two neighbors and the “private” call “shouldn’t have been made public.”

The prime minister said she was using a “negotiation tactic” and her comments were “not a statement of allegiance.”

Paetongtarn became prime minister last year after the Constitutional Court ruled that her predecessor Srettha Thavisin had breached ethics rules and voted to dismiss him as prime minister.

The same court also dissolved the country’s popular progressive Move Forward Party, which won the most seats in the 2023 election, and banned its leaders from politics for 10 years. (CNN)

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Thailand’s parliament voted on Friday for Paetongtarn Shinawatra to be the country’s next prime minister, thrusting another member of the kingdom’s most famed and divisive political dynasty into the top job.

The vote came two days after Thailand’s Constitutional Court removed former Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin from office, in a surprise decision that plunged the kingdom into further political uncertainty and raised fresh concern over the erosion of democratic rights.

Paetongtarn, 37, won 319 votes in the House of Representatives, after being nominated as the sole candidate by her Pheu Thai party’s ruling coalition to replace Srettha. She still needs to be endorsed by King Maha Vajiralongkorn before she can officially take office and appoint a Cabinet.

Paetongtarn will be Thailand’s second female prime minister, after her aunt Yingluck – and the youngest to hold the position.

A political newcomer, Paetongtarn was one of three prime ministerial candidates for Pheu Thai ahead of the May 2023 national elections and made international headlines when she gave birth just two weeks before the vote.

Her appointment adds another twist to a years-long saga that has shaken up Thailand’s already turbulent political landscape.

Paetongtarn is the youngest daughter of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 military coup. Thaksin is one of Thailand’s most influential figures, whose economic and populist policies enabled him to build up a political machine that has dominated Thai politics for the past two decades. (CNN)

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