Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the daughter of former Thailand Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, has been suspended as Prime Minister of Thailand by the Constitutional Court, supposedly over a leaked phone call she held with Cambodia’s former Prime Minister Hun Sen. The leaked call included her being polite and deferential to Hun Sen, while there is a border dispute raging between Thailand and Cambodia. This led to a mass demonstration by thousands of Thais in Bangkok, demanding her resignation.
The Constitutional Court is essentially a body representing the Monarchy and the Military. They have run operations against the Shinawatra family and their political parties for the past 25 years. Thaksin was ousted as Prime Minister by the military in 2006, followed by the Constitutional Court banning his political party (Thai Rak Thai—Thais Love Thailand). Nonetheless, his sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, was elected Prime Minister in 2011, demonstrating the strong popular support for Thaksin and his family. The Constitutional Court then ousted Yingluck in 2014.
