Thailand’s Constitutional Court has officially ousted suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, ruling that she committed ethical misconduct during a controversial phone call with Cambodia’s former leader Hun Sen.
The verdict on Friday makes her the fifth Thai prime minister since 2008 to be forced out by judges.
The nine-judge panel said the 39-year-old failed to uphold the standards and integrity required of a head of government when she spoke with Hun Sen in June, in an effort to cool tensions after a deadly border clash. According to the court, she put “personal interests over the nation’s interests.”
In the leaked audio, Paetongtarn was heard flattering Hun Sen — calling him “uncle” — while criticising a senior Thai army commander as an “opponent.”
She had already been suspended from office on July 1 while the case proceeded.
Friday’s ruling is just one of several legal battles for the Shinawatra family. Paetongtarn’s father, ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was cleared last week of insulting the monarchy but still faces another case over serving time in a hospital wing instead of prison in 2023, after his corruption sentence was commuted.
For Paetongtarn, this decision ends her short and rocky tenure at the top — and adds to the long-running saga of Thai leaders being pushed out of office by the courts.
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