Embattled Thai PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra reshuffles Cabinet as crisis rages

BANGKOK – Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra began a Cabinet reshuffle on June 23 as a political and judicial crisis sparked by a leaked phone call threatens to sink her government.

The 38-year-old daughter of controversial former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra began handing out ministerial posts vacated when her

main coalition partner quit last week

– a move that nearly took her government down.

Ms Paetongtarn, in office for less than a year, is hanging on by a thread, and, on top of the party horse-trading, she now faces a Constitutional Court case that could see her barred from office.

She faced calls to quit or call an election last week as critics accused her of undermining the country and insulting the army during the

leaked call with former Cambodian leader Hun Sen

, which focused on a festering border dispute.

The conservative Bhumjaithai party quit the governing coalition led by Ms Paetongtarn’s Pheu Thai party over the call, leaving it with a wafer-thin majority.

But the crisis stabilised as

other coalition partners said they would stay

, and Pheu Thai secretary-general Sorawong Thienthong told AFP news agency on June 23 that all 10 remaining parties were sticking with the government.

“None of the other parties are pulling out – the remaining parties are staying united with the government,” Mr Sorawong said.

“The Prime Minister has discussed the reshuffle with other political leaders.”

The new Cabinet line-up will be finalised by June 27, but sources said changes are expected in key positions including in the Defence Ministry, as the border row with Cambodia rumbles on.

With the loss of Bhumjaithai, the government can command only a handful more than the 248 votes needed for a majority in Parliament, making it deeply vulnerable.

Even if Ms Paetongtarn rides out the parliamentary crisis, a potentially bigger threat is looming in the form of the Constitutional Court.

A group of conservative senators has submitted a petition asking the court to throw Ms Paetongtarn out of office over her conduct in the call with Mr Hun Sen.

The same court

sacked Ms Paetongtarn’s predecessor, Mr Srettha Thavisin

, in an ethics case in August 2024.

Mr Srettha was the latest in a long line of Thai prime minsters from parties linked to Mr Thaksin to be kicked out of office by court orders or military coups – with Mr Thaksin himself and his sister Yingluck Shinawatra also among them.

Thai politics has endured two decades of chronic instability fuelled by a long-running battle between the military, pro-royalist establishment and parties linked to Mr Thaksin.

While Mr Thaksin, 75, remains popular with his rural base, he is deeply disliked and distrusted by Thailand’s powerful elite.

At the root of the current crisis for Ms Paetongtarn and Pheu Thai is a

historic border dispute with Cambodia

, which has previously led to violent clashes, including the death of a Cambodian soldier during a skirmish in May.

Partly banking on strong ties between the Shinawatra family and Mr Hun Sen, the government initially pushed for a diplomatic solution to the flare-up, even as Cambodia moved to petition the International Court of Justice to resolve the matter.

However, the unexpected release of the audio clip not only brought the Thai government to the brink, but has also led to a further deterioration in relations between the neighbours.

Mr Hun Manet, Cambodia’s Prime Minister and Mr Hun Sen’s son, said on June 22 that his administration would

stop all fuel and gas imports from Thailand

, following an earlier move to stall the entry of some Thai agricultural produce.

“Fuel supply companies in Cambodia are able to import sufficiently from other sources to meet domestic fuel and gas demands,” he said in a post on Facebook.

For its part, the Thai government has handed over control of border crossings along the Cambodian frontier to its military, which has tightened entry restrictions and shut down one crossing point, citing security concerns.

Cambodia was Thailand’s 11th largest export market in 2024, with US$10.4 billion (S$13.4 billion) in bilateral trade between the neighbours, dominated by precious stones, jewellery and fuels, according to Thai government data.

And more than half a million Cambodian workers are employed in Thailand, according to the Thai Labour Ministry.

“The Cambodia situation is complex; it isn’t about just a conflict between the two countries,” said Dr Titipol Phakdeewanich, a political science professor at Ubon Ratchathani University.

“There is also a Hun-Shinawatra dimension that could still shake the government.” AFP, REUTERS