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Cambodia–Thailand phone call leak
2025 political scandal in Thailand
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
On 15 June 2025, Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra held a 17-minute private phone call with Cambodian Senate President and former Prime Minister Hun Sen to discuss a peaceful resolution to the 2025 Cambodian–Thai border crisis. Deputy Governor of Phnom Penh, Khleang Huot, acted as an interpreter on the call.[1]
On 18 June 2025, a nine-minute audio recording of the call was leaked.[2] Later that day, Hun Sen confirmed he had recorded the full conversation and posted it on his Facebook page.[3][4]
During the phone call, Paetongtarn referred to Hun Sen as "uncle", as Hun Sen is a longtime friend of her father, Thaksin. Paetongtarn then requested Hun Sen to "please have some sympathy for [his] niece" (Thai: เห็นใจหลานหน่อยเถอะ), and stated that "the people in Thailand are saying that I should just go be the Cambodian prime minister instead" (คนไทยไล่เราให้ไปเป็นนายกฯ ที่เขมรหมดแล้ว). She then offered to Hun Sen that she will take care of anything he needed.[5]
Paetongtarn then said that Boonsin Padklang, a Thai military commander, is saying things that are not beneficial to the nation to "look cool". She also referred to the commander as part of the "opposing side".[6]
Reaction and aftermath
The leak was received with widespread condemnation of Paetongtarn in Thailand.[7] It led to the resignation of the Bhumjaithai Party from the governing coalition, precipitating the 2025 Thai political crisis.[8]
On 23 June 2025, the Stock Exchange of Thailand index hit the lowest point in over five years,[9] at less than 1,063 points.[10]
On 1 July 2025, Paetongtarn was suspended from office by the Constitutional Court of Thailand,[11][12] over the phone leak, with a pending case to dismiss her from the prime ministerial role.
On 7 July 2025, the proposed Entertainment Complex Bill which would have legalized casinos was scrapped, due to opposition and the political crisis created by the suspension of the Prime Minister.[13]
On 29 August 2025, the Constitutional Court ruled 6–3 against Shinawatra, officially removing her from office.[14]