Thais turn against PM, like her ‘uncle’ Hun Sen: Shinawatra suspended from office

The border dispute with Cambodia is threatening to bring down Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra. She was suspended by the Constitutional Court on Tuesday (July 1), just three days after thousands rallied in Bangkok demanding her resignation. “Ung Ing, get out,” they chanted, using her nickname, as they braved the rain on Saturday.

The nine-member court suspended her after accepting a petition filed by 36 senators to investigate her actions. She angered the people and politicians alike by trying to make peace with the Cambodian leader Hun Sen in a secret phone call.

Tensions are running high on either side of the border. Cambodians angrily marched in a state-organised rally in mid-June after one of their soldiers was killed in a brief skirmish on May 28. Thais similarly reacted in fury when Paetongtarn’s phone call with Hun Sen was leaked. She infuriated them by sounding too eager to please the Cambodian leader and criticising one of her own Thai generals during the June 15 phone call.

Paetongtarn apologised for the remarks after the call was leaked, claiming she did not mean what she said, but the damage was done. Her coalition partner, the Bhumjaithai party, broke away, and now her political future is in jeopardy. The court has suspended her while it investigates whether she violated the Constitution or ethical standards by making the secret phone call.

The court removed her predecessor, Srettha Thavisin, last year for a breach of ethics.

Adding insult to injury, even Hun Sen has turned against her. He condemned her remarks about the Thai general, arguing that they were an insult to the Thai king, as generals are appointed by the monarch.

It may seem surprising that Hun Sen—whose son, Hun Manet, is now Cambodia’s prime minister—would invoke respect for the Thai king amid escalating tensions between the two countries. However, the wily 72-year-old former Cambodian strongman, who stepped down from office two years ago, is playing to deep divisions in Thai politics.

Paetongtarn, the 38-year-old daughter of billionaire and former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, leads a fragile coalition government opposed by from royalists and nationalists.

Hun Sen and his family, on the other hand, have long been allies of the Shinawatras.

Roots of Hostility

The roots of the current hostility lie in a territorial dispute that flared up in May when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a brief exchange of gunfire. Since then, both sides have reinforced their borders, closed crossings, and halted the movement of goods and people.

In this tense environment, Hun Sen lashed out at the Shinawatras during an hours-long televised speech on June 27, calling for a change of government in Thailand. He accused Paetongtarn of looking down on him and his son, Hun Manet. Hun Sen also denounced Thaksin, who is embroiled in a court case over a hospital stay that allowed him to avoid prison, accusing the former prime minister of faking his illness.

“Thaksin was not sick,” he said. “He pretended to be sick.”

Paetongtarn, feeling betrayed, said, “I won’t be talking privately with him [Hun Sen] anymore because there is a trust problem.” She had trusted him during their phone call, addressing him as “uncle,” and explained that she was under domestic pressure. She urged him not to listen to “the opposite side”—a reference to a prominent Thai general at the border.

“He just wants to look cool and say things that are not useful to the nation,” she told Hun Sen through a translator, referring to the general. “But in truth, what we want is peace.”

Those words would come back to haunt her. Hun Sen later claimed that the audio clip could have been leaked by any of the 80 people he had shared it with.

There have been clashes in the disputed area before—in 2008 and 2011. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in favor of Cambodia regarding the temple and its immediate surroundings, but Thailand still disputes the ruling.

Following her suspension, Paetongtarn accepted the court’s decision.

“I want to make it clear that my intentions were more than 100% sincere. I acted for the country, to protect our sovereignty, to safeguard the lives of our soldiers, and to preserve peace in our nation,” she said in a press conference on Tuesday.

Political observers are now waiting to see if she will stay in the Cabinet as Culture Minister, despite being suspended as Prime Minister. In the new Cabinet lineup published in the Royal Gazette on Monday and made public on Tuesday, Paetongtarn added the culture portfolio to her responsibilities.

Deputy Prime Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit will assume the role of caretaker prime minister in the meantime.

Paetongtarn, leader of the Pheu Thai Party, is the third member of the Shinawatra family to serve as prime minister and discover the vagaries of power. Her father, Thaksin, became prime minister in 2001 but was ousted in a coup five years later. He helped his younger sister, Yingluck, rise to the premiership in 2011, but she was forced out by a court ruling in 2014.