Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been removed from the top job after the country’s Constitutional Court ruled she had violated ethics rules.
At 39 years old, Paetongtarn is the youngest prime minister in the history of Thailand. She boasts impressive political connections as the daughter of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and niece of yet another prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra. She is also the head of the Pheu Thai party, which controversially formed an alliance with pro-military forces in 2023 to form the current government.
Paetongtarn was suspended in early July over a leaked phone call with veteran Cambodian leader Hun Sen amid a deadly border conflict. In the call, Paetongtarn referred to the elderly former dictator as “uncle,” professed love and respect for him, and criticized her own military commanders.
Paetongtarn has insisted that her comments were a negotiating tactic to prevent conflict at the border and save lives.
“As a Thai person, I insist on my sincerity to work for the Thai people. I’d like to reiterate to the people that what I adhere to most is the lives of the people — be it soldiers or civilians,” she told reporters after the Friday verdict.
Nevertheless, Paetongtarn accepted the court decision ordering her to leave office.
Who will take Paetongtarn’s place?
The Hun Sen scandal has already wreaked havoc on Thailand’s politics. The conservative Bhumjaithai party has dropped out of the ruling coalition, leaving Pheu Thai with a razor-thin majority and stoking fears of another military coup.
Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, who has been caretaker PM since Paetongtarn’s suspension, will remain in the role until Thailand’s House of Representatives votes in a new prime minister.
Phumtham announced on Friday that the government coalition parties hope to appoint a new prime minister as soon as possible.
Pheu Thai will likely nominate Chaikasem Nitisir as its candidate to replace Paetongtarn. Chaikasem, 77, is a lawyer and former attorney general who served as Thailand’s justice minister in 2013.
Other potential candidates may include former interior minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Prayuth Chan-ocha, who led the 2014 military coup and stayed on as head of government until Paetongtarn took office in 2023.
If the lawmakers fail to agree on Paetongtarn’s successor, they could also stage a vote of no confidence and dissolve the parliament, which would trigger snap elections.
What’s next for Shinawatras’ Pheu Thai party?
Napon Jatusripitak, a political scientist at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, says the removal of Paetongtarn has political ramifications for the Pheu Thai party.
“Pheu Thai will be forced to contest the next election without a clear prime ministerial candidate. This raises the risk of party implosion, particularly if it opts not to rally behind its remaining nominee in the event that a new prime minister must be chosen,” he told DW.
“Pheu Thai already compromised on its ideological commitments once, when it formed an alliance with its former conservative adversaries in 2023. That coalition left the party in a vulnerable position and unable to deliver on its flagship policy promises. A repeat would further damage both the Shinawatra legacy and the Pheu Thai brand beyond repair,” he added.
Thaksin Shinawatra avoids prison
With the fall of Paetongtarn Shinawatra, some Thai analysts have questioned if this scandal will also spell the end of the Shinawatra political dynasty.
Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist and professor at Chulaongkorn University in Bangkok, told DW that the Shinawatra family “has been in decline for some years.”
“Now with what Paetongtarn has done with a leaked phone call, I think that the family, for all intents and purposes, the Shinawatra family, is no longer a potent force in Thai politics,” he added.
However, it may be too early to sign off the influential political clan — Paetongtarn’s father Thaksin, the billionaire ex-prime minister, scored a major victory last week after a court cleared him of royal defamation charges which saw him face a possible prison term of 15 years.
Edited by: Darko Janjevic
