Thai military to face off with Shinawatra after PM’s phone call with Hun Sen
The second-largest party in the ruling coalition is ready to quit the Pheu Thai-led government. The crisis was triggered by an audio between Prime Minister Paetongtarn and a former Cambodian prime minister, in which they discussed the recent border clash. Various scenarios are now possible in the country, from new alliances to military intervention.
Bangkok (AsiaNews) – A crisis is brewing in Bangkok after the second-largest party in the ruling coalition, Bhumjaithai, quit the government led by Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and her Pheu Thai party.
The coalition government was created in the fall 2023 bringing together Pheu Thai, the largest party in parliament, with Bhumjaithai, in a marriage of convenience between two otherwise ideologically distant political movements.
The potential breakup comes after a phone call was leaked last night. In it, Thailand’s 38-year-old prime minister is heard speaking with Cambodia's strongman, former Prime Minister Hun Sen.
The Cambodian leader is a friend of Thaksin Shinawatra, the current Thai prime minister’s father, himself a former prime minister, who went into exile in 2008 and returned home two years ago. Since then, the senior Shinawatra has been rebuilding his own power base and network of interests.
The call centred on tensions between the two countries, which increased following a border incident on 28 May that resulted in the death of a Cambodian soldier, and triggered a series of statements, accusations and reprisals near the border.
Cambodian nationalists held mass protests while the two countries deployed extra troops to the border. Hun Sen called for the closure of the border and a stop to Thai imports.
On Sunday, Cambodia urged the International Court of Justice to intervene in the dispute, a move rejected by Thailand, which refuses international mediation.
During the phone conversation, Ms Shinawatra appears to be criticising the Thai military, this according to Phak Prachachon (People's Party), a not unlikely scenario given the role and interests Thailand’s Armed Forces have in border control and Thai-Cambodian relations.
The Armed Forces are allied with political and business elites who do not look favourably to the Shinawatra family. The senior Shinawatra was overthrown by the military in the fall of 2006.
Despite his removal from power, his parties have regularly won elections by a wide margin.
The current situation is open to various outcomes. One could see the government collapse followed by unending attempts to find a new, stable majority; another could include ad hoc alliances, excluding only those who are openly anti-Shinawatras or opposed to entrenched, traditional elites.
What certainly remains is the urgent need to for the two countries to put an end to armed tensions, which could get worse because of a weak Thai government.
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