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Thailand Constitutional Court Suspends PM

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UPDATED on 1 July at 2:27 PM

The Laotian Times and AFP – Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was suspended by the country’s Constitutional Court on 1 July, as it opened a probe into her conduct in a diplomatic spat with Cambodia.

“The Constitutional Court with a majority of 7-2 suspends the respondent from Prime Ministerial duty from 1 July until the Constitutional Court has made its ruling,” said a statement, after a group of conservative senators lodged a case accusing Paetongtarn of breaching ministerial ethics during a border row with Cambodia.

Shortly after the suspension announcement, Paetongtarn briefly addressed the decision before the press saying, “The ruling has come out and I accept the court decision. I have 15 days to make a declaration. I’m going to do my best. I will declare my true intention behind the leaked phone call.”

“However, the method that I used may not suit the preference of a lot of individuals. Nevertheless, I am willing to prove that it is all my intention, my effort, over 100 percent,  that I did it all for the country. It is definitely not for personal benefit. I’ve only thought about how to prevent chaos or resorting to battle.”

A long-standing territorial dispute boiled over into cross-border clashes in May, killing one Cambodian soldier.

When Paetongtarn called Cambodian statesman Hun Sen to discuss tensions, she called him “uncle” and referred to a Thai military commander as her “opponent”, according to a leaked recording which caused a backlash.

Conservative lawmakers accuse her of kowtowing to Cambodia and undermining the military, and allege she breached constitutional provisions requiring “evident integrity” and “ethical standards” among ministers.

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