Local time 29 August 2025 Bangkok, Thailand, former Prime Minister of ThailandPetontanSpeaking to the media at the government building after being dismissed by the Constitutional Court vision china picture

According to CCTV News, on August 29, the Thai Constitutional Court ruled that Peitontan, who was suspended from his post as prime minister, violated relevant provisions of the Constitution during the phone call with Cambodia Senate Chairman Hun Sen, and removed him from his post as prime minister with immediate effect. This is the fifth prime minister of Thailand to be dismissed by the Constitutional Court since 2008, and the third prime minister of the Shinawatra family led by former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to be dismissed.

At a press conference at the prime minister's office after the court's ruling, Ms Petuntan said she accepted the verdict. "Thank you to everyone who has offered me a job over the past year... I love Thailand's country, religion and monarch as much as I can." She expressed support for the future government, bowed, smiled and left.

On August 16th last year, Petongtan was elected Prime Minister of Thailand, replacing Saita, a colleague of the Thai Party who was dismissed. In mid-June this year, a recorded phone call between Petongtan and Hun Sen, a close family friend and Cambodian political strongman, about the situation on the Thai-Cambodian border flowed out, causing 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.

"Thaksin's family is at a critical junction. Originally, combined with Thaksin's ruling on 22nd, it was believed that Petongtan still had the possibility of staying in power. However, she finally stepped down, which means that Thailand will start the political process of electing the prime minister again, and the result will depend on the power and interest game between the royal family-royalists, military groups, Thaksin faction, Proud Thai Party, opposition People's Party and small and medium-sized political parties in the ruling coalition."

The new prime minister will be chosen by a vote in the lower house, but only candidates nominated in the 2023 prime ministerial ballot will be eligible to run, including Chaikasan from Pheu Thai, Anuttin, the leader of Pheu Thai, Prayuth Prayuth, a former coup general, the current deputy prime minister and energy minister nominated by the Thai United National Party, Phra Phan, and Zhu Lin, nominated by the established center-right Democratic Party.

¡°At the moment, the third prime minister candidate of his letter faction speculates that Carson is more likely to be elected. Theoretically, there is a possibility that Pahor will return to the center of power,¡± said Zuhai. According to Thai media reports, Anutin, who withdrew from the government in the ¡°Telephone Gate¡± incident, has been actively supporting the network, and even sought the support of the largest opposition party, progressive people¡¯s party.

Prayut has the possibility of returning to the center of power. Data map

What is the basis for the ruling?

According to the leaked recording, Petonthan called Hunson "uncle" when she spoke to Hunson, asking him to help solve the border issue between the two countries, and also criticized a Thai officer, who was accused of damaging the national dignity and image. She has defended herself that she spoke to Hunson for the purpose of safeguarding border peace and security, whose phrase is "private communication strategy", a diplomatic means and does not violate the constitutional provisions.

The 36 senators who filed a petition with the Constitutional Court accused Peitontan and Hun Sen of violating ethics and inconsistent with Peitontan's duties as prime minister.

Nine judges of the Constitutional Court ruled that Petontan was unconstitutional by a 6 - 3 vote. The ruling said that the court held that although Peitontan spoke with Hun Sen to protect national interests, she made negative remarks involving the Thai military during the call and pleaded with Hun Sen, which was detrimental to national interests and was unconstitutional. Termination of his post as prime minister in accordance with the Constitution, this ruling took effect from the date when the Constitutional Court suspended her post as prime minister on July 1.

At the age of 37, when he took office last year, Petun Tan was the youngest leader in Thailand's recent modern history and the second female prime minister after his aunt Inna.

Petontan's predecessor, Saita, was also dismissed by the Constitutional Court on the grounds that he violated moral rules in cabinet appointment. Thai media such as Bangkok Post described that Thai politics has formed a political strategy called "legal war", which has become the main tool for conservative forces and the so-called "deep state" to overthrow political opponents without launching a military coup. In addition to the successive legal blows to the Thai Party and the Thaksin family, the predecessors of the main opposition People's Party, the Kadima Party and the New Future Party, were also dissolved by court ruling.

A new election can officially shuffle the cards

Soraon, Secretary-General of the Pheu Thai Party and Minister of Tourism and Sports of Thailand, once said that if Peitontan was dismissed, senior Pheu Thai Party members guessed that Carson would be the candidate to take over the baton and would take up the post if necessary. Chai Kasen is 75 years old. He served as the Attorney General of Thailand and held multiple positions during the Yingluck government. He was elected to the Lower House of Parliament in 2023, but later resigned and became an adviser to former Prime Minister Sita.

A non-renowned Thai research scientist said in a press release that a short-term election would not be triggered, and that he had recently been in danger of passing the criminal court trial, but Peterson had failed to overcome. Next, the political game between conservative political forces and his family would continue for a period of time.¡±The scientist said that only dissolving Congress and holding general elections would form a formal right-washing and forming a new pattern.

Priya Tiwanara Rummit Kur, a law professor at the Thai University of Legal Affairs, said in a media analysis that he believes the family¡¯s adverse rulings will affect the family¡¯s ability to negotiate and even trigger early elections. However, the former ¡°elections machine¡± for the Thai Party is not in good condition at the moment, and it may be difficult to cope with the election war and the new elections will surely be held before the middle of 2026, or even earlier.¡±

However, there are also analysts who believe that the conservatives need the Thai party to hold back the huge, radical people's party and the conservative camp has chosen him to believe."Orlan Tian Bento, a lecturer in political science at the University of Wuhan, Thailand, told the media, "I guess that Carson will be elected as the transitional prime minister and dissolve Congress when time matures."

¡°Once Carson comes to power, he can also strengthen the local political coalition to prepare for the next general election by leveraging a budget of 150 billion baht of economic stimulus,¡± said Orlando Tiemponti.

Thaksin was pardoned by the King of Thailand less than two weeks after his imprisonment. The picture shows Thaksin and Petuntan

Could Thaksin go into exile again?

On August 22, the Thai Criminal Court dismissed charges against Thaksin for allegedly offending the royal family. On September 9, Thaksin's other "hospitalization case on the 14th floor" will be heard. Analysts such as Oran Timbonteo believe that if Thaksin is sentenced to prison in this case, the Pheu Thai Party and the government it participates in will immediately face a "collapse fate."

In August 2023, Thaksin returned to Thailand from 15 years in exile, and was subsequently sentenced to eight years in prison by the Supreme Court of Thailand. The next day, he was urgently transferred to the VIP ward on the 14th floor of the Police General Hospital because of symptoms such as "hypertension and myocardial ischemia". On September 1st, Thaksin, who had been in prison for less than two weeks, was pardoned by the King of Thailand, and his eight-year sentence was reduced to one year. This incident caused some public questions: Why did there be serious health problems just after imprisonment? Is the VIP ward a privileged treatment? The core controversy of the "hospitalization case on the 14th floor" revolves around Thaksin's "whether to evade imprisonment in the name of health", and the conservative camp reacted strongly to this.

According to Yu Haiqiu's analysis, compared with the accusation of offending the monarch, the evidence of the "hospitalization case on the 14th floor" is more sufficient, covering witness testimony, documents, timeline and forensic identification, and many relevant personnel have testified, so Thaksin may not escape punishment.

Jade Donovanik, dean of the College of Law at Born University, Thailand, and assistant professor, said that if the Supreme Court ruled he was guilty, he would have to serve the remaining one year in prison, and that he could seek home imprisonment, thus continuing to exert political influence. But if the court found that his original eight-year sentence was reduced to one year for false reasons, the amnesty could be revoked. This would force him to persuade him to complete the original sentence and could also force him to exile again.

Assumption Carson¡¯s support for the Thai party is mainly due to the assumption that Carson has shown to act in accordance with his letter¡¯s political instructions, but if he believes to be sentenced or have to exile, a new power struggle within the Thai party will erupt.

Further consequences were, ¡°A series of court rulings marked the political influence and integration capabilities of the Chinatown family have begun to erode, a key turning point. Without the Chinatown family, the Thai party could even split into smaller political parties.¡±Jad Donawanik said, ¡°If the election committee determined that it was not for members of the Thai Party that the party was illegally manipulated, it could petition the Constitutional Court for the complete dissolution of the Thai Party, thereby triggering another major shift in Thai politics.¡±

The People's Party may strategically support Anutin as prime minister in exchange for dissolving Congress in three to six months, thereby creating more liquid political play opportunities, even if it is proud to have only half of the 140 seats in the Thai Party, its party leader Anutin still has a chance to become prime minister," Thailand's political science expert, Professor Titinan Ponsudilak, told the news.

A political scientist at Chulalongkorn University, Stitun Tananitichoat, said Mr. Anuttin and Mr. Prayuth might be a more realistic alternative to Mr. Chaikasen. The Pheu Thai-dominated coalition does not have enough seats, and Mr. Anuttin appears more capable of reshaping the political landscape. To elect Mr. Prayuth would require special royal approval to resign as privy council minister before becoming prime minister.

"As Thailand's political situation becomes increasingly chaotic and governance capabilities become increasingly weak, this long-term lack of clarity and inefficient government is likely to inspire conservatives to call for the military to intervene to end political deadlock and instability. Given Petontan's suspension or even dismissal, infighting in the ruling coalition, uncertainty facing the government, policy weakness and stagnation-including trade negotiations with the United States and the budget for the new fiscal year starting October 1-the risks of military intervention have increased significantly." Titinan Ponsudirac told The Paper News.

Stone Tananitichot also believes that new conservative parties may emerge against the background of rising pro-military sentiment caused by the Thai-Cambodia border conflict.