Overview

• Judges ruled Paetongtarn violated ethical standards over a leaked June call with Cambodia’s Hun Sen, saying she placed personal interest over the national interest and harmed Thailand’s reputation.
• She had been suspended since July 1 following a senators’ petition, and the court’s decision immediately ends her one-year tenure.
• Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai and the cabinet will run the government in a caretaker capacity until a new prime minister is chosen on a date to be set by the house speaker.
• Only candidates nominated before the 2023 election are eligible, with five names in play, including Pheu Thai’s Chaikasem Nitisiri, Bhumjaithai’s Anutin Charnvirakul and former premier Prayuth Chan-o-cha.
• The verdict extends a long pattern of judicial interventions against Shinawatra-aligned leaders, comes after protests and coalition fractures over the leaked call, and follows deadly Thai–Cambodian border clashes that ended in a Malaysia-brokered ceasefire.