THAILAND's Constitutional Court dismissed Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from office today for an ethics violation - after only a year in power.
Paetongtarn has been suspended since Jul 1.
Paetongtarn, who was Thailand's youngest prime minister, becomes the sixth premier from or backed by the billionaire Shinawatra family to be removed by the military or judiciary in a tumultuous two-decade battle for power between the country's warring elites.
She was found guilty of violating ethics in a leaked June telephone call with Cambodia's former leader Hun Sen when both countries were at the brink of an armed border conflict. Fighting erupted weeks later and lasted five days.
According to reports in Reuters, the decision paves the way for the election by parliament of a new prime minister, a process that could be drawn out, with Paetongtarn's ruling Pheu Thai party losing bargaining power and facing a challenge to shore-up a fragile alliance with a razor-thin majority.
Paetongtarn has apologised over the leaked call and said she was trying to avert a war.
The focus will next shift to who will replace Paetongtarn, with her father Thaksin Shinawatra, who was the 23rd prime minister of Thailand, expected to be at the heart of a flurry of horse-trading between parties and other power-brokers to try to keep Pheu Thai in charge of the coalition.
The acting prime minister, Phumtham Wechayachai, is not eligible to take on the role permanently because he was not registered as a prime ministerial candidate at the 2023 election.
The third and sole remaining candidate in the ruling Pheu Thai Party, after Srettha and Paetongtarn, is the 77-year-old former justice minister Chaikasem Nitisiri, who has pushed back against reports of his poor health. - August 29, 2025
