Today (July 1, 2025), the Constitutional Court convened to deliberate the petition submitted by Mr. Mongkol Surasajja, President of the Senate, on behalf of 36 senators. They requested the Court to consider whether Prime Minister Ms. Paetongtarn Shinawatra had seriously violated ethical standards, which could result in her individual termination from office under Section 170 paragraph one (4), in conjunction with Sections 160 (4) and (5) of the Constitution. The petition also sought an order suspending Ms. Paetongtarn from performing her duties pending the Court’s decision. This follows an audio recording allegedly involving a conversation on the Thai-Cambodian border dispute with Samdech Hun Sen, President of the Cambodian Senate.
After reviewing the facts and accompanying documents, the Constitutional Court unanimously resolved to accept the petition for consideration in accordance with Section 170 paragraph three and Section 82 paragraph one of the Constitution and Section 7(4) of the 2018 Organic Act on Constitutional Court Procedures. The Court notified the petitioner and ordered the respondent to submit a defense within 15 days from receipt of the petition copy.
Regarding the request to suspend the Prime Minister from duty, the Court, by a majority vote (7 to 2), found there were reasonable grounds to suspect that the respondent committed the alleged violation under the Constitution. Consequently, it issued an order suspending Ms. Paetongtarn from performing her duties as Prime Minister effective July 1, 2025, until the Court delivers its ruling. Both parties were duly notified.
Two dissenting Constitutional Court judges—Mr. Nakharin Mektrairat and Mr. Udom Sithiwiraththam—opined that the facts of the case were not yet sufficiently clear to establish reasonable grounds of violation. However, to prevent serious and irreparable damage, they proposed temporary measures under Section 71 of the 2018 Organic Act, prohibiting the respondent from exercising powers related to national security, foreign affairs, and finance until the Court reaches a final decision.