Thailand PM removed: Cambodia border row at core; political crisis ahead?

Paetongtarn Shinawatra

Thailand’s Constitutional Court on Friday removed Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and her cabinet from office over her role in a border dispute with Cambodia.The court’s nine judges said Paetongtarn failed to meet the ethical standards expected of a prime minister. Their decision was based on a leaked phone call from June, where she was heard speaking with former Cambodian leader Hun Sen. In the call, she appeared too submissive at a time when the two countries were close to armed conflict. Weeks later, fighting broke out and lasted for five days.Paetongtarn, Thailand’s youngest prime minister, is now the sixth member of the Shinawatra family or their allies to be pushed out of power by the courts or the military in the last 20 years.With her dismissal, parliament must now choose a new prime minister. But the process may take time. Her Pheu Thai party has lost bargaining power and will struggle to keep its shaky alliance, which has only a very slim majority.