Thailand's political earthquake, youngest female prime minister Petun Tan dismissed!
The Author: Evan On August 29, 2025, Thai politics staged a shocking drama! The 39-year-old youngest female prime minister in Thai history, Petuntan Shinawatra, was ruthlessly "beheaded" by the Constitutional Court, and instantly fell from the peak of power to the bottom because of a recorded call with former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.In this recording, Petun Tan himself shouted "Uncle" Hongson, also degraded the Thai military generals to "adversaries", directly ignite the anger of the domestic military, opposition and the people, sparking a political storm that swept across the country! From border to power vacuum. The fire:This political thriller began with a small-scale shooting on the Thai Cambodian border on May 28, 2025. a Cambodian soldier was killed and the two sides had a sword. In order to extinguish the fire, Petun Tan called the phone of the Chairman of the Cambodian Senate, Hunson, on June 15, to try to calm the wave of old family relationships. Who knows, on June 18, the 9-minute call recording was leaked by the "mysterious forces" and instantly opened the pot in both Thailand and Cambodia!In the recording, Petongtan not only had an intimate tone, but also called Ben Xin, commander of the Second Military Region of the Thai Army, an "opponent", which stabbed a hornet's nest! Hun Sen added fuel to the fire, admitting that the recording was true, and said that the full version of the 17-minute recording had been sent to 80 senior Cambodian officials, suggesting that the leak might have been done by internal "traitors".Petongtan hurriedly held a press conference, arguing that it was a "diplomatic strategy", and went to the border to "shake hands and make peace" with Benzin.But this wave of "public relations operations" completely turned upside down! The hashtag "Petuntan kneels and licks Hun Sen" on Thai social media swiped the screen, thousands of people took to the streets to protest, the largest opposition party, the People's Party, took the opportunity to call for the dissolution of the parliament, the second largest party in the ruling coalition, the Pheu Thai Party directly "defected", 8 cabinet members slapped their butts and left, Petuntan's parliamentary support rate fell from a narrow majority to the bottom, with only 255 seats left! 2. The Constitutional Court's "Bright Sword"：The Constitutional Court of Thailand quickly "took over" the offer. On July 1, 36 members of Parliament jointly wrote a letter accusing Peitontan of "unconstitutionality and loss of morality." The court immediately suspended her duties as prime minister. On August 21, Petontan personally appeared in court to "complain" of injustice, insisting that he had no intention of harming national interests.On August 29, nine judges voted 6-3: Petuntan "grovelled to foreign leaders and belittled the military" on the phone, violated constitutional moral standards, and was immediately dismissed! The entire cabinet was dissolved, and Deputy Prime Minister Putan Wichayechai was ordered in danger and became a caretaker prime minister. The parliament must quickly elect a new prime minister, otherwise this "leaderless" drama in politics will have to continue! This ruling not only makes Petongtan's political career "cool", but may also make her eat a 10-year "ban". Although she temporarily kept her small position as Minister of Culture, everyone knows that this is just a "political consolation prize". Thailand's Constitution's requirement that public officials "must be honest and upright" has become the "sword of Damocles" hanging over politicians, and the "super discretion" of the Constitutional Court makes this political liquidation full of "palace fight" flavor! The “magic” of the Sinai family.：The fall of Petontan can be called another "political Waterloo" of the Shinawatra family. Since 2001, this family has dominated Thai politics by the "Red Shirt Army" and the pro-people policy, but its grievances and entanglements with the military, the royal family and the "Yellow Shirt Army" conservatives have never stopped! Thaksin was ousted by a coup in 2006, and Yingluck was pulled down by the court in 2014. Now Petongtan has followed suit and become the third prime minister of his family to be "beheaded".According to statistics, since 2006, 34 political parties in Thailand have been dissolved, four Prime Ministers of the Sinava family have been overthrown, and the Constitutional Court has simply become their “noise-make-up machine”!The crisis has torn open deep scars in Thai politics: the confrontation between the military and civilian government, the fragility of family politics, and the endless infighting of the "red and yellow struggle."Pete Tammy attempted to "alliance" with the conservatives after taking office, but the "call door" directly hit the Chinese military's pain point, and the pride of the Thai party's "disappearance" has also shaken her ruling coalition. The poll showed that her popular support rate fell from 30.9% in March to 9.3%, which is the prime minister, and is clearly the target of the whole people's "rush"! China’s “seismic wave” Thailand is China's "iron buddy" in ASEAN. In 2024, the bilateral trade volume will soar to 130 billion US dollars, and China will be Thailand's largest trading partner. After Petuntan took office, he promoted China-Thailand cooperation vigorously. After visiting China in February 2025, he finalized a large order to crack down on electronic fraud and attract investment from Chinese enterprises. It is clear that he wants to use China's power to balance domestic conservatives. But her downfall has cast a shadow over China-Thailand cooperation:1. Risk of policy rollover: The new prime minister may come to power to "dig up old accounts", the approval of China-Thailand high-speed rail and digital economy projects may be blocked, and subsidies and tax incentives may also be discounted.2. Economic shocks：Thailand's fiscal year 2026 budget may be delayed due to political chaos, the Thai baht exchange rate fluctuates in the short term, and retail and tourism may be "cool".3. Deteriorating business environmentStreet protests could escalate, foreign investment censorship tightened, and manufacturing and offline retail were cautiously “trapped”.
Don't panic, though! As a manufacturing center of ASEAN and a key node of "the belt and road initiative", no one can shake Thailand's position in the short term. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded calmly: "This is Thailand's internal affair, and we hope for stable development." In the long run, Thailand's economy's dependence on the Chinese market, coupled with the demand for new energy and digital economy, is destined to not "overturn" Sino-Thai cooperation.
The new prime minister and political turmoil
The Thai parliament has to hurry out a new prime minister from the five candidates: for the Thai party's old general guess Carson, proud Thai party Anutin, pro-military paramount ... none of them are oil-saving lights! for the Thai party, although he is the leader of the ruling coalition, but has to take more benefits in exchange for support, the new government is estimated to be "everywhere". if the coalition collapses, early general elections should be held, but for the Thai party now the people's opinion "laughs", fear that it is not mainstream reform opposition party people's party.
Political turmoil and the economy followed.The Thai central bank forecast economic growth in 2025 is only 2.3%, foreign investment confidence is not slightly hurt by this "palace fighting game".But well in the Thai civil servants system is still counted, the basic administration is not likely to collapse. Though the Sinava family is severely injured, the "iron powder" is still in the countryside, and the "red yellow war" in Thai politics must continue to tear!
Political "crossing the mountain" and new opportunities in China
It is only the latest episode of the cycle of "red and yellow twists" in Thailand's politics.The military, court, and family politics "kill three countries", so that the political situation in Thailand is like sitting on a mountain car, stimulating stimulation, but the cost is not small!
For China, this wave is a "pressure test": in the short term, the Chinese enterprises have a lukewarm point, do not rush to the big projects, look at the areas of people's needs and policy support steadily fight; in the long run, the "big plate" of China-Thailand cooperation is steady as rock, the prospects for new energy and digital economy are still tempting. China with "not interfere, hope for stability" diplomatic wisdom, reserve space for bilateral relations to return to the right track.