Leaked call triggers political fallout for Paetongtarn

Paetongtarn Shinawatra's future as Thai prime minister hangs by a thread after a leaked phone call with Cambodian strongman Hun Sen inflamed a border dispute and sparked a political backlash.

The content of her 17-minute phone conversation has seriously damaged relations between the Thai government and the military, notably the 2nd Army Region Commander Boonsin Padklang, whom the Thai premier appeared to regard as an opponent in the call.

“I don’t want Uncle [Hun Sen] to listen to people on the opposing side,” Paetongtarn said in the call. “The Second Army Region commanders — they’re all from that side. I don’t want you to feel upset or angry, because that’s not our intention.”

Paetongtarn refers to Hun Sen as uncle due to the deep connections between the Shinawatra and Hun families. Hun Sen, 72, who was Cambodia's prime minister for nearly four decades, is three years younger than her father Thaksin Shinawatra.

Once the audio clip was leaked on June 18, Paetongtarn rushed to make a call to Boonsin, asking for forgiveness and offering a public apology for her amateur diplomacy.

She met the commander in person during a field trip to see the border area in the Northeastern Ubon Ratchathani province on June 20 to show her solidarity and unity with the military.

While the commander and senior military officers in the armed forces did not show disappointment, the leaked audio has triggered major political consequences for her cabinet.

Coalition in crisis

Bhumjaithai Party, the second-largest partner in the coalition government, pulled out of the cabinet saying the PM's conversation compromised on the sovereignty, territory, and interests of Thailand and the Thai military.

The party, which has eight seats in the Cabinet and 69 sitting MPs in the House of Representatives, demanded that Paetongtarn take responsibility for hurting Thailand’s national dignity, honor, and the pride of its people and the military.

Bhumjaithai’s withdrawal significantly undermines the coalition’s stability, leaving the government with a razor-thin majority of 248 MPs in the 495-member House.

The pro-military Ruam Thai Sang Chat Party has reportedly given the ruling Pheu Thai Party an ultimatum to remove Paetongtarn from office, or it would also pull out of the coalition.

“If it’s clear that the prime minister will not resign, then we must resign. That is a firm resolution. Don’t believe rumors — party resolutions don’t change by the hour. A resolution is a resolution,” said Juti Krairiksh, the party’s deputy leader, dismissing a rumor that a faction within the party wanted to stay with Paetongtarn’s cabinet.

The opposition People’s Party is demanding that the prime minister dissolve the lower House and hold a snap election.

A coalition of political activists from various groups, including former yellow shirt groups, and former People’s Democratic Reform Committee, who called huge street protests against the Shinawatra clan between 2008-2014, have called street protests to demand Paetongtarn’s resignation.

Some of Thaksin’s friends-turned-foes, such as red shirt leader Jatuporn Promphan, have also joined the bandwagon against Paetongtarn’s government.

Meanwhile, some right-wing groups are calling for a military coup to topple the civilian government.

Legal consequences

Thailand’s youngest PM could also face some legal consequences, as lawyer and political activist Ruangkrai Leekitwattana filed a petition with the Election Commission on June 19, asking the body to investigate whether she had violated the 2017 Constitution to proceed with impeachment.

Senate chairman of the Military and Security Committee Sawat Thatsana has filed a complaint with the National Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate if Paetongtarn had committed any unconstitutional acts by holding such a phone conversation with Hun Sen.

Former senator Somchai Sawaengkarn lodged a petition with the police at the Central Investigation Bureau to press criminal charges against Paetongtarn under Sections 119-120. Those who commit criminal acts against state security could face the death penalty or a life sentence.

Political activist Srisuwan Janya lodged a petition with the anti-graft body asking it to proceed with impeachment for her violation of ethical standards that could oust her from office.

Border restrictions remain

The key message in the phone conversation between Paetongtarn and Hun Sen mostly focused on the border restriction measures imposed by the Thai authorities since June 7 to put pressure on Cambodia to adjust its troop deployment in the disputed areas in Chong Bok, in Nam Yuen district of Ubon Ratchathani province.

Under the supervision of the National Security Council, the military shortened the border pass operation period, reducing it to an average of 50 per cent of the previous operation times.

The measures caused difficulties for the passage of goods and people between the two countries.

To Hun Sen’s disappointment, Cambodia agreed to remove its troops from the clash site and fill in the trench they had dug earlier. Still, border passing restrictions remained, according to a diplomatic source.

The former Cambodian prime minister, who maintains a strong influence over the administration, told Paetongtarn in the private phone conversation that he simply wanted normalcy of border passage, while the Thai premier told him that both sides had to renegotiate the matter as Cambodia had banned the import of fruit and vegetables from Thailand.

“On this matter, Cambodia is merely reciprocating,” Hun Sen said, arguing that “it was Thailand that had initially closed the border checkpoints, so Cambodia had to follow suit.”

“Cambodia cannot do anything about this, because it was already taken advantage of once before — when it agreed to withdraw its troops at Chong Bok, based on the understanding that the border situation would return to normal. But in the end, the Thai military still kept the border checkpoint closed,” he said.

“At present, Cambodia is proposing that Thailand reopen all border checkpoints first. After that, Cambodia will follow suit within a maximum of five hours and will lift all previous import bans, including those on goods, vegetables and fruit,” Hun Sen said.

The economic stakes are high for Thailand. After enjoying a trade surplus of over 109 billion baht in 2024 in its border trade with Cambodia, prolonged restrictions could inflict greater damage on Thai exporters than on Cambodia’s importers.

According to border trade statistics from the Thai Commerce Ministry’s Department of Foreign Trade, total trade value between the two countries in 2024 was 175.5 billion baht —141.8 billion baht in Thai exports and 32.6 billion baht in imports.

Mounting distrust

There are no signs of a thaw in the bilateral diplomatic downturn. Deputy Defense Minister Nattaphon Nakpanich, who heads a task force to oversee the Thailand-Cambodia border situation, said the audio phone conversation was leaked intentionally to undermine Thailand’s security and stability.

“This incident is no coincidence; rather, it is part of a complex plan with a deep and cunning objective devised by the opposing side,” he said in a Facebook post.

“The release of the audio clip was not merely aimed at diplomatic impact but was a calculated move — one bullet aimed to bring down the whole nest. And we will never allow them to succeed in that.”

Other events have continued to fuel the fire. On June 18, Thai military officials prohibited a group of 30 Cambodian visitors from singing Khmer songs at the Ta Kabei Hindu temple. A Thai army statement said on June 20 that the symbolic display in that area does not align with the approach and mutual agreements previously discussed by both sides.

The Thai and Cambodian military had agreed previously during meetings of the General Border Committee and the Regional Border Committee not to allow the singing of songs or other activities that could be deemed as a nationalist symbol to be displayed at the border dispute areas.

The agreement was reached after a hot verbal fight on February 19 at the disputed Ta Moan Thom sanctuary, when Cambodian Major General Nheak Vong led a 25-member group in singing a patriotic song, prompting a heated exchange with a Thai commander who deemed it inappropriate in a disputed area.

Ta Kabei and Ta Moan Thom are two of four disputed areas the Cambodian government has brought to the International Court of Justice for settlement, while Thailand has maintained it does not recognize the court's jurisdiction in the matter.