Thailand’s Constitutional Court has dismissed Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra for an ethics violation, ending her one-year tenure and dealing another setback to the influential Shinawatra political dynasty.
In a 6–3 ruling on Wednesday, the court said the 39-year-old leader — Thailand’s youngest-ever prime minister — placed personal interests above national interests in her dealings with Cambodia. The judges cited a leaked June phone call in which she appeared to defer to Cambodia’s former leader, Hun Sen, at a time of heightened border tensions. Fighting later broke out along the frontier, lasting five days.
The court ruled that her conduct damaged Thailand’s reputation and eroded public confidence. Paetongtarn apologised for the call, saying she acted to prevent conflict, but becomes the fifth Thai prime minister in 17 years removed by the Constitutional Court.
Her removal deepens political instability in Thailand, where elected governments have repeatedly clashed with the military, judiciary, and royalist establishment. Paetongtarn is the sixth Shinawatra-backed leader forced from power in two decades.
Parliament must now elect a new prime minister, though analysts warn the process could be drawn out. Paetongtarn’s Pheu Thai party, which heads a fragile coalition with a slim majority, is expected to lose leverage as rivals seek to benefit from the ruling.
Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai and the cabinet will serve in a caretaker capacity until a successor is chosen. There is no deadline for parliament to make its selection.
Five candidates are eligible, including one from Pheu Thai — 77-year-old Chaikasem Nitisiri, a former attorney general with limited government experience. Other possible contenders include Anutin Charnvirakul, a deputy premier whose party recently quit Paetongtarn’s coalition, and former military leader Prayuth Chan-ocha, though he has formally retired from politics.
The decision throws Thailand into fresh political uncertainty amid sluggish economic growth, projected at just 2.3 percent this year, and rising public frustration over stalled reforms. Any new Pheu Thai-led administration is expected to face constant challenges from a determined opposition pushing for early elections
