Thailand’s Constitutional Court today (August 29) in the afternoon ruled that Prime Minister Peton Tammam was removed from office on the basis of “violation of moral norms” for only a year in power. Peton Tammam, 39, is Thailand’s youngest prime minister. The Thai Constitutional Court said in its ruling that Peton Tammam had “violated moral norms” in a conversation with Cambodia’s Senate President Hunson on the border situation in Thailand in June this year.
Instead of going to court today, Mr. Petuntan was expected to hold a news conference after the ruling was read in a live broadcast from the prime minister's office.
After the recording of the phone call between Petong Tan and Hun Sen flowed out, it caused controversy in Thailand. On July 1st, the Constitutional Court of Thailand announced that it had accepted the petition to investigate whether Petongtan had unconstitutional acts, and immediately suspended Petongtan from exercising the functions and powers of Prime Minister.
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Thai Prime Minister Peyton Tan standing at the crossroads
The suspended Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra will usher in the key node of her political career on August 29th-the Constitutional Court will make a ruling on whether she is unconstitutional. This judgment is not only related to whether she can return to the throne of prime minister, but also regarded as a fork in the road in Thailand's future political situation.
In June this year, a recording of a phone call with the Cambodian Senate President Hunton about the situation at the Thai border leaked, sparking controversy in Thailand.In early July, the Thai Constitutional Court accepted a petition to investigate whether she was unconstitutional in the call and then suspended her exercise of prime minister powers.
At the moment, the Thai people are waiting for the Constitutional Court’s decision. Scholars interviewed by the New York Times believe that it remains uncertain whether Peetnam will restore the post of prime minister. If it is ruled that Peetnam is not unconstitutional, she will regain the power of prime minister, which will greatly boost the stability of the Thai Party and government; if she is ruled unconstitutional, Thailand may face government restructuring or trigger an early election.
On June 20, 2025, Thailand’s Prime Minister, Mr. Patton Tan, visited the Cambodian border to inspect the army. Recently, a conversation with the Chairman of the Cambodian Senate and former Prime Minister, Mr. Hunson, sparked controversy.
Efforts before the ruling
Last August, Patong Tan became Thailand's youngest-ever prime minister. However, after only about a year in power, her position as prime minister is in jeopardy.
On May 28 this year, a brief military conflict broke out between the Thai and Cambodian troops in a disputed border area, killing a Cambodian soldier. On June 15, Peterson contacted Hunson, hoping to use private relations to ease border tensions. Three days later, the two phone calls disappeared. In the call, she called Hunson "uncle" and asked him to help solve the border issue between the two countries, and also listed the commander of the Second Army District of Thailand as a "adversary".
The "call door" incident has pushed Petuntan, who is still in power, into an unprecedented crisis. Some opponents have publicly called for her to resign, while the largest opposition party, the People's Party, has urged her to dissolve the lower house of parliament for re-election. The second-largest party, Proud Thai, also withdrew from the ruling coalition, and several Proud Thai cabinet members resigned.
To save the situation, Petontan held a press conference to apologize, explaining that what he said was a "negotiation strategy". She also went to the border to inspect the troops and met with the military personnel "Ben Xin" involved in the call to eliminate misunderstandings. Ben Sin responded that he had received an explanation and expressed his understanding.
But those efforts failed to ease the mounting political pressure. Thirty-six senators then asked the Constitutional Court to investigate whether Mr. Petuntan had violated the constitution, which requires ministers to be "demonstrably honest and upright" and not to act in breach of ethical norms.
On July 1st, the Constitutional Court accepted the petition and suspended Petontan from exercising the functions and powers of Prime Minister. Suspension does not necessarily lead to dismissal. Petongtan can submit a written explanation within 15 days as required, after which the court will make a final ruling on whether to dismiss her.
Just hours before she was suspended, the cabinet completed a new round of reorganization after the proud Thai Party withdrew, and Petun Tan served as Minister of Culture. There are analysts that her arrangement may be based on the precedent of Pahor and hopes to retain its influence in the cabinet. In 2022, when Prime Minister Pahor was suspended by the Constitutional Court, she continued to attend cabinet meetings as Minister of Defense.
After two extensions, Petuntan submitted an explanatory document to the Constitutional Court, insisting that the words referring to Hun Sen as "uncle" on the phone and the commander of the Second Military Region as an "opponent" were diplomatic negotiation techniques based on the principles of international negotiation, aimed at easing border tensions and safeguarding national interests, rather than naive words and deeds.
In an interview with the New York Times, Zhuji, director of the Southeast Asian Research Center of the Shanghai Institute for International Affairs, said that the explanatory documents submitted by Petonthan may be both indicating to the Thai people that his actions do not harm the national interests and that he is forwarding his non-substantially unconstitutional position to the Thai Constitutional Court.
The Aug. 21 hearing was seen as a crucial step in the lead-up to the ruling. On the same day, Petuntan appeared at an investigation into her alleged unconstitutionality. She was also questioned in court by Chachai Bangtuo, the secretary general of the National Security Council. The hearing lasted about two hours, and the specific content of the defense was not released.
Zhou Shixin analyzed that although Thai law does not require it, Peitontan chose to attend the hearing, which may be intended to show that he attaches importance to the investigation and faces external doubts."To some extent, Peitontan and his team have made a lot of efforts to convince the Thai people that Peitontan is a rational and responsible leader and pave the way for a possible return to the post of prime minister." he said.
According to the previously announced schedule, the Constitutional Court will hold a collegiate deliberation and vote on the morning of August 29, and pronounce the verdict at 3 pm that day. Thai media said that the ruling on this day will determine the political fate of Petuntan. If Petuntan is found not to have violated the constitution, she will be expected to regain the power of the prime minister. If it is found that she is unconstitutional, she will be officially dismissed.
On August 21, 2025 local time, in Bangkok, Thailand, suspended Thai Prime Minister Peitontan arrived at the Constitutional Court of Thailand to testify in the suspected unconstitutional case. Picture/IC photo
An unpredictable future
The suspense now lies in whether the efforts of Peitontan and his team can reverse the crisis and return to the throne of prime minister.
The Constitutional Court is regarded as a key factor. The main function of this independent court is to make final rulings by a simple majority in cases such as law enactments that have been challenged by parliamentarians or prime ministers, laws that have already been reviewed by Congress and politicians suspected of hiding assets. It consists of one dean and eight judges, the dean and the judge nominated by the senior dean and submitted to the king for approval.
In May last year, the Constitutional Court decided to accept the resignation petition with a majority of 6 to 3, investigating whether the practice of appointing illegal recorders as ministers during the reorganization was unconstitutional, and on August 14 the same year, with a majority of 5 to 4, ruled that Sita was unconstitutional and immediately dismissed.
But what is more critical is the deeper political tussle behind the Constitutional Court. For decades, conservative forces and Thaksin's camp have been in a power struggle.
Thailand has a constitutional monarchy, whose king does not nominally control government, but has substantial influence. Zhou said that the army is actually dependent on the royal family. Overall, the constitutional court represents the interests of conservative forces such as the royal family and the military.
The father of Petonthan believed he had profound political disagreements with the royal family and the military. He once attempted to promote government reform, while the royal family and the military tended to maintain the existing regime. He believed that the previously founded Thai Party was dissolved after its government was overthrown by a military coup, and he himself had been in exile for years.
However, in recent years, the situation has changed.Pietnam led the Thai Party to absorb supporters of the former Thai Party, and became the second largest party in the House of Representatives in the general election in May 2023.
Due to the failure of the then largest party, the Far Progressive Party, to nominate the prime minister twice, Pheu Thai was able to lead the formation of the new government and lead the ruling coalition, including conservative forces.
Titinan Ponsudilak, senior researcher at the Institute for Security and International Affairs at the University of Chulalongkorn in Thailand, told the New York Times: “He believed that the ‘Red Shirt’ was the main force in rural areas against the Conservatives and the Conservative ‘Yellow Shirt’, but this has changed because he joined the establishment (conservative) and now he even wears a yellow shirt to show loyalty.”
According to the new observation, a certain degree of compromise and cooperation has been reached for the Thai Party with the royal family and the military. Therefore, there are comments that the Thai Party is no longer a political party committed to reforming Thai politics. He wrote that ending the exile back home in 2023 is also seen as a reflection of some kind of agreement reached between his letter and the conservative forces.
“As far as the current situation is concerned, the relatively mild relationship between the Thai party and the royal family and the military has indicated that there is a greater likelihood that Peetnam will return to the prime minister’s office,” Mr. New explained that on the day Peetnam was suspended as prime minister, the king of Thailand approved the new cabinet and allowed her to serve as the minister of culture, which was interpreted as the royal family did not want her to resign, as Mr. Hunson said. At the same time, Peetnam’s criticism of the military seemed to have been resolved by some kind of agreement, but whether the agreement was surface or substantive, is not yet clear.
However, Thai scholars, coupled with Thailand's multiple claims, say that Peyton Tan's hope of returning to the post of prime minister is low.
Sudilac pointed out that Petontan's political position was quite fragile long before the 'Call Gate' incident. Although Thaksin reached some kind of agreement with conservative forces, it put him and his Thai party at a disadvantage. Although the Thaksin camp has introduced a series of policies such as the consumption stimulus plan of "10,000 baht digital wallet", in fact, it has never been effectively promoted.
"The establishment [conservatives, etc.] may not be monolithic, but they are intent on getting rid of the threat of reform from the Far Progressive party that won the general election in May 2023 [advocating changes to the law of affront to the monarchy, etc.], rather than supporting the Thaksin-led Pheu Thai government to manage the economy freely," says Mr. Pongsudhirak. "Last year, Petuntan was elected to take over after Saitha, then prime minister, was ruled unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court and dismissed. A year later, Petuntan appears to be facing a similar fate again."
Thailand's political situation is intensifying
The ruling of the Constitutional Court will affect the future direction of Thailand's political situation.
Zhou Shixin pointed out that if the court rules that Petontan is not unconstitutional, she will be expected to resume her post as prime minister, but may attach certain restrictions to restrict her scope of authority. To some extent, this is also a response to part of the opposition party's demands, and it is also regarded as a warning issued by the conservative forces behind the Constitutional Court to the current ruling coalition.
However, even if he is restored to his post as prime minister, Peitontan's road ahead in power is still full of challenges. Ponsodillac believes that her mediocre performance in governance, possible street protests in the anti-Thaksin camp, and other accusations that may arise at any time may continue to threaten her prospects in governance.
"What's more difficult is that the phone call with Hun Sen not only damaged her image in the eyes of the Thai people, but also caused the Pheu Thai Party to withdraw from the ruling coalition, leaving the government with only a narrow majority to maintain operation, and future governance will be difficult," Pongsudhirak said.
Thailand's Bangkok Post that after the proud Thai Party's withdrawal, the ruling coalition led by the Thai Party held only about 255 seats out of the 495 real seats in the House of Representatives, with a weak advantage.
Another possibility is that if the court rules that she is unconstitutional, Petuntan will face different results depending on the degree of unconstitutionality. Zhou Shixin's analysis shows that the lesser case may be that she is removed as prime minister but retains the post of culture minister; if the circumstances are serious, she may be suspended from politics for several years, and the position of culture minister is difficult to retain; and more serious, she may be banned from participating in politics for life.
Regardless of the outcome, Patton’s political fate will affect the stability of Thailand’s political sphere. Zhou said if she was removed from the prime minister’s position, the Thai Party would still be able to dominate the ruling coalition and put forward a new prime minister candidate. However, once the Constitutional Court’s ruling on Patton’s decision was too severe, it could affect the unity of the ruling coalition and could not sustain it, thereby triggering the dissolution of the House and re-election.
"In a country with 70 million population, where a few people can overthrow elected governments again and again, there can be no stability and progress, only upheaval and backsliding. This has been the case in Thailand for the past two decades. Now, Thailand is going through another cycle of heightened political instability, with Petuntan's government at risk of collapsing like previous leaders who were ousted by the Constitutional Court," Mr. Pongsudhirak said.
In addition to Python’s allegedly unconstitutional “call door”, his letter’s trial also shaded the family’s political prospects.On August 22, the Thai Criminal Court rejected his allegations of allegedly offending the monarchy, but on September 9, the Supreme Court will still decide whether he should undo imprisonment for health reasons.
The case stems from Thaksin's eight-year prison sentence by the Supreme Court on three corruption charges after he returned to China in 2023. However, he was soon granted amnesty by the king and his sentence was reduced to one year. Despite this, he was not actually jailed, but was transferred to a hospital for health reasons and released after about six months. This is why the outside world questioned whether his "health reasons" were reasonable, and the case was returned to judicial review.
In Mr. Pongsudhirak's view, Mr. Thaksin's legal risks could further undermine the family's influence. "The Thaksin family has dominated Thai politics for the past 25 years, but that dominance has been waning. The establishment has gained the upper hand, but the country has also fallen into political paralysis and economic stagnation." He predicts that the political situation in Thailand will remain volatile in the coming weeks.
Beijing News reporter Zhu Yuehong
Edited by Chen Xiao
Proofreading Chen Diyan