Thailand’s Constitutional Court on Friday removed Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from office for an ethics violation, cutting short her premiership.
After just one year and delivering another major setback to the Shinawatra family’s political dominance. The ruling is expected to trigger a turbulent period of coalition negotiations and political uncertainty. At 39, Paetongtarn was Thailand’s youngest prime minister and the latest member of the billionaire Shinawatra clan to be ousted, becoming the sixth leader from the family or its allies forced out by the military or judiciary in the past two decades.
The court found she breached ethics in a leaked June phone call, where she appeared to yield to Cambodia’s former leader Hun Sen during a tense border standoff. Fighting broke out weeks later, lasting five days. Paetongtarn later apologized, saying her intention was to prevent conflict.
Her dismissal weakens the ruling Pheu Thai party’s bargaining position as it tries to hold together a fragile coalition. Deputy premier Phumtham Wechayachai and the cabinet will serve in a caretaker role until parliament elects a new prime minister, a process with no set timeline. Potential candidates include Pheu Thai’s 77-year-old Chaikasem Nitisiri, former coup leader Prayuth Chan-ocha, and ex-deputy premier Anutin Charnvirakul, who recently pulled his party from Paetongtarn’s coalition.
Paetongtarn had stepped into the role last year after her predecessor, Srettha Thavisin, was dismissed by the same court. Her removal marks the fifth time in 17 years that a Thai premier has been unseated by the Constitutional Court, underscoring its pivotal role in the country’s entrenched power struggle between elected leaders and conservative-royalist elites.
With Thailand’s economy projected to grow only 2.3% this year and reforms stalled, analysts warn the process of appointing a new leader could be long and difficult, heightening public frustration and deepening political instability.
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