Thousands demand Thai prime minister quit over border dispute
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Thousands demand Thai prime minister quit over border dispute
Thousands of protesters rallied in the Thai capital Bangkok on Saturday to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra. The demonstration was organised by the United Force of the Land, a coalition of largely nationalist activists. The latest dispute started with a skirmish between Thailand and Cambodia over a disputed patch of border territory in May. The political turmoil in Thailand threatens to further damage the country’s struggling economic recovery. The prime minister now controls a slim majority coalition following the exit of former partner Bhumjaithai Party last week. She appeared to criticize a Thai army commander and kowtow to Cambodia’s former leader, Hun Sen, in a leaked phone call with him. The group said “the executive branch” and parliament were not working “in the interest of democracy and constitutional monarchy” They also called for other coalition partners to quit immediately, saying the government was not working in the interests of the people. The government is also battling to keep a fragile coalition together ahead of a potential no confidence vote next month.
Item 1 of 5 Anti-government protesters gather at the Victory Monument during a protest calling Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra to resign after her leaked phone call with former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on the Thailand-Cambodia border dispute, in Bangkok, Thailand, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa
Summary Largest anti-government protest since 2023
Triggered by border dispute, leaked phone call
Government facing possible no-confidence vote
BANGKOK, June 28 (Reuters) – Thousands of protesters rallied in the Thai capital Bangkok on Saturday to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra , piling pressure on a government at risk of collapse over a border dispute with neighbouring Cambodia.
In the largest such rally since the ruling Pheu Thai party came to power in 2023, crowds braved heavy monsoon rain to demonstrate against Paetongtarn, 38, who is also battling to revive a faltering economy and keep a fragile coalition together ahead of a potential no confidence vote next month.
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“She should step aside because she is the problem,” Parnthep Pourpongpan, a protest leader, said.
The latest dispute started with a skirmish between Thailand and Cambodia over a disputed patch of border territory in May. Thai nationalist groups called for Paetongtarn to go after she appeared to criticize a Thai army commander and kowtow to Cambodia’s former leader, Hun Sen, in a leaked phone call with him.
Public criticism of the army is a red line in a country where the military has significant clout. Paetongtarn apologised for her comments after the call.
Parnthep, the protest leader, said many Thai people felt the prime minister and her influential father, Thaksin Shinawatra, were being manipulated by Hun Sen, a former ally of the family who has turned against them.
‘UNG ING, GET OUT’
Blocking the busy intersection at Victory Monument, a war memorial, crowds including many elderly people waved flags bearing Thailand’s national tricolor.
“Ung Ing, get out,” the crowd occasionally chanted in unison, calling the premier by a nickname.
Thapanawat Aramroong, 73, said Paetongtarn’s comments about the army commander and seeming eagerness to please Hun Sen were unacceptable.
The demonstration was organised by the United Force of the Land, a coalition of largely nationalist activists who have rallied against other Shinawatra-backed governments over the last two decades.
In a statement read aloud before the crowds, the group said “the executive branch” and parliament were not working “in the interest of democracy and constitutional monarchy”.
Remaining coalition partners should quit immediately, they said.
While past protests against the Shinawatras did not directly cause the downfall of those governments, they built up pressure that led to judicial interventions and military coups in 2006 and 2014.
Protester Somkhuan Yimyai, 68, said he did not want the military to end up staging a coup and that previous military takeovers had not “provided solutions for the nation in terms of solving corruption or the government’s administration of the country.”
ECONOMIC TURMOIL
The political turmoil in Thailand threatens to further damage the country’s struggling economic recovery.
The prime minister now controls a slim majority coalition following the exit of former partner Bhumjaithai Party last week. Protesters on Saturday called for other coalition partners to quit.
Paetongtarn also faces judicial scrutiny after a group of senators petitioned the Constitutional Court and a national anti-graft body with a wide remit to investigate her conduct over the leaked phone call.
Decisions from either bodies could lead to her removal.
Hun Sen also launched an unprecedented public attack on Paetongtarn and her family, calling for a change of government, in an hours-long televised speech on Friday, which the Thai foreign ministry described as “extraordinary” while insisting that Thailand prefers to use diplomacy.
Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um; Additional reporting by Napat Wesshasartar; Editing by Sam Holmes and Poppy McPherson
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Thailand protesters demand PM’s resignation over leaked call with Hun Sen
Thousands of protesters demand the resignation of Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra. Protests come amid growing anger over a leaked phone call with former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. In the June 15 conversation, she urged Hun Sen not to listen to ‘the other side’ in Thailand, including an outspoken Thai army general who she said “just wants to look cool’ The phone call has set off a string of investigations in Thailand that could lead to the PM’s removal. In Cambodia, Hun Sen condemned what he called an attack by Thai forces last month on Cambodian forces in a border dispute. He said the skirmish inside Cambodian territory was a serious violation of country’S sovereignty and territorial integrity. The National Anti-Corruption Commission is investigating Paetongsarn for a serious breach of ethics over the phone call. The Constitutional Court can suspend her from duty pending the investigation and could decide as early as next week whether it will take the case.
Demonstrators took to the streets on Saturday, outraged by a June 15 conversation in which Paetongtarn urged Hun Sen – the current Cambodian Senate president who still wields considerable influence in his country – not to listen to “the other side” in Thailand, including an outspoken Thai army general who she said “just wants to look cool”.
The army commander was in charge of an area where a border clash last month led to one Cambodian soldier being killed. The man was killed on May 28 following an armed confrontation in a contested area.
The leaked phone call with Hun Sen was at the heart of Saturday’s protest and has set off a string of investigations in Thailand that could lead to Paetongtarn’s removal.
Protesters held national flags and signs as they occupied parts of the streets around the Victory Monument in central Bangkok. At a huge stage set up at the monument, speakers expressed their love for Thailand following the intensified border dispute.
“It looks like this is going to be a pretty well-attended rally, certainly a loud voice … Lots of speeches, lots of whistles, lots of noise, all calling in full voice for Prime Minister Paetongtarn to resign,” said Al Jazeera’s Tony Cheng, reporting from Bangkok. “They say this conversation has undermined Thailand, has undermined the military, and they are insisting that she step down – it does put her in a very tricky position.”
Many of the leading figures in the protest were familiar faces from a group popularly known as Yellow Shirts, whose clothing colour indicates loyalty to the Thai monarchy. They are longtime foes of Paetongtarn’s father, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who reportedly has a close relationship with Hun Sen.
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“The political scientists we’ve been speaking to over the last couple of days think it is going to be very difficult for Paetongtarn to survive as prime minister, but the problem then is who would replace her,” Cheng said.
Hun Sen addresses supporters
In Cambodia, Hun Sen on Saturday promised to protect his country’s territory from foreign invaders and condemned what he called an attack by Thai forces last month.
At a 74th anniversary celebration of the foundation of his long-ruling Cambodian People’s Party, Hun Sen claimed the action by the Thai army when it engaged Cambodian forces was illegal.
He said the skirmish inside Cambodian territory was a serious violation of country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, despite Cambodia’s goodwill in attempting to resolve the border issue.
“This poor Cambodia has suffered from foreign invasion, war, and genocide, been surrounded and isolated and insulted in the past but now Cambodia has risen on an equal face with other countries. We need peace, friendship, cooperation, and development the most, and we have no politics and no unfriendly stance with any nation,” Hun Sen said in an address to thousands of party members at the event in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh.
There is a long history of territorial disputes between the countries. Thailand is still rattled by a 1962 International Court of Justice ruling that awarded Cambodia the disputed territory where the historic Preah Vihear temple stands. There were sporadic though serious clashes there in 2011. The ruling from the UN court was reaffirmed in 2013, when Yingluck was prime minister.
The scandal has broken Paetongtarn’s fragile coalition government, costing her Pheu Thai Party the loss of its biggest partner, the Bhumjaithai Party.
The departure of Bhumjaithai left the 10-party coalition with 255 seats, just above the majority of the 500-seat house.
Paetongtarn also faces investigations by the Constitutional Court and the national anticorruption agency. Their decisions could lead to her removal from office.
Sarote Phuengrampan, secretary-general of the Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, said on Wednesday that his agency is investigating Paetongtarn for a serious breach of ethics over the Hun Sen phone call. He did not give a possible timeline for a decision.
Reports said the Constitutional Court can suspend Paetongtarn from duty pending the investigation and could decide as early as next week whether it will take the case. The prime minister said on Tuesday she is not worried and is ready to give evidence to support her case.
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“It was clear from the phone call that I had nothing to gain from it, and I also didn’t cause any damage to the country,” she said.
The court last year removed her predecessor from Pheu Thai over a breach of ethics.
Thousands of protesters demand Thai PM’s resignation
Protesters rally in Bangkok demanding Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra resign. Leaked diplomatic phone call stirred public anger over her leadership. A Cambodian elder statesman leaked a call meant to soothe a border spat between the two nations in which she called him “uncle” and referred to a Thai military commander as her “opponent” The crowd was mostly senior-aged and led by veteran activists of the “Yellow Shirt” movement, which helped oust her father Thaksin in the 2000s. The prime minister has been battered by controversy and abandoned by her largest backer, the Bhumjaithai Party, after her phone call with Cambodia’s ex-leader Hun Sen was leaked earlier this month. Her remaining coalition partners have not yet backed out of their pledge to back the PM, leaving her teetering with a slim parliamentary majority. On Tuesday the Constitutional Court will decide whether to take up a petition seeking her removal over unprofessional remarks to South Korean media.
Thousands of anti-government protesters rallied in the Thai capital Bangkok on Saturday, demanding Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra resign after a leaked diplomatic phone call stirred public anger.
A Cambodian elder statesman leaked a call meant to soothe a border spat between the two nations in which Paetongtarn called him “uncle” and referred to a Thai military commander as her “opponent”.
A key party abandoned Paetongtarn’s coalition, accusing the 38-year-old dynastic premier of kowtowing to Cambodia and undermining Thailand’s military, leaving her teetering with a slim parliamentary majority.
About 10,000 demonstrators jammed roads ringing the capital’s Victory Monument, waving Thai flags and placards reading “Evil PM, get out”.
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One speaker took to the stage and shouted: “PM, you committed treason!”
The crowd was mostly senior-aged and led by veteran activists of the “Yellow Shirt” movement, which helped oust Paetongtarn’s father Thaksin in the 2000s.
One of Thaksin’s former allies, now among his harshest critics, was also a key organiser.
“I’m here to protect Thailand’s sovereignty and to say the PM is unfit,” said 70-year-old protester Seri Sawangmue, who travelled overnight by bus from the country’s north to attend.
“After I heard the leaked call I knew I couldn’t trust her,” he told AFP. “I’ve lived through many political crises and I know where this is going. She’s willing to give up our sovereignty.”
Thailand has seen decades of clashes between the bitterly opposed “Yellow Shirts” who defend the monarchy and military, and the Thaksin-backing “Red Shirts”, considered by their opponents a threat to the traditional social order.
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Jamnong Kalana, 64, said she was once a “Red Shirt” but had changed her colours and was demanding the resignation of Paetongtarn, leader of the Pheu Thai party.
“I feel full of pain when I see a fellow Thai who doesn’t love the country like I do,” she said.
– Make-or-break court cases –
Mass protests have been uncommon in Thailand since 2021, when youth-driven demonstrations calling for monarchy reform ended with many leaders convicted under the country’s strict lese-majeste laws.
Authorities said more than 1,000 police and 100 city officials had been deployed to the protest, which remained peaceful on Saturday afternoon.
The 62-year-old protester Santhiphum Iamjit was overcome with emotion.
“Our ancestors shed blood, sweat and tears for this land, but now politicians are ready to give it away for personal gain,” the former bureaucrat tearfully told AFP.
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Paetongtarn was visiting Thailand’s flood-hit north but before departing Bangkok she told reporters: “It’s their right to protest, as long as it’s peaceful.”
The prime minister has been battered by controversy and abandoned by her largest backer, the Bhumjaithai Party, after her phone call with Cambodia’s ex-leader Hun Sen was leaked earlier this month.
Tensions between the countries have soared after a border dispute boiled over into violence last month which killed one Cambodia soldier.
Thailand’s military has staged a dozen coups since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932 and politicians are usually careful not to antagonise the generals.
After calling a border region military commander her “opponent”, Paetongtarn gave a contrite press conference where she issued a public apology flanked by military officials in a show of unity.
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Her remaining coalition partners have not yet backed out of their pact.
But next week both Paetongtarn and her father face legal battles that could reshape Thailand’s political landscape.
On Tuesday the Constitutional Court will decide whether to take up a petition by senators seeking her removal over alleged unprofessionalism.
That same day her father is set to stand trial on royal defamation charges linked to decade-old remarks to South Korean media.
Paetongtarn took office less than a year ago after her predecessor was disqualified by a court order and her father returned from exile after 15 years.
She is the fourth Shinawatra-linked figure to become prime minister following her father, aunt and uncle-in-law.
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