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23-06-2025
BANGKOK: Thailand’s embattled Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra will not resign or dissolve parliament, a senior official from the ruling Pheu Thai party said on Saturday, risking a prolonged political crisis in Southeast Asia’s second largest economy.
Sorawong Thienthong, who also serves as Thailand’s tourism minister, said in a Facebook post that the prime minister would not quit, despite growing calls for her resignation after her apparent mishandling of a border dispute with neighboring Cambodia
“The prime minister has clearly confirmed to us that she will continue to perform her duty to resolve various crises that the country is facing to the best of her ability,” he said.
“The government confirms that it will continue to work, not resign, and not dissolve parliament.”
Paetongtarn, daughter of divisive tycoon and former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, is facing domestic anger over the leak of a phone call between her and Cambodia’s influential former leader Hun Sen, in which she appeared to kowtow before the veteran politician and denigrated a senior Thai military commander.
The Bhumjaithai Party, which was the second-biggest partner in Thailand’s ruling coalition, withdrew from the alliance late on Wednesday, citing the leak earlier that day.
Another coalition member, the United Thai Nation party, looked set to demand Paetongtarn’s resignation in return for backing the Pheu Thai-led ruling coalition and securing its narrow parliamentary majority.
Paetongtarn has apologized for the call with Hun Sen but not commented on the crisis so far.
Activists have also scheduled a protest in Bangkok starting on June 28 to ask for Paetongtarn’s resignation, among them groups with a history of influential rallies against Shinawatra administrations.
On 18th June, Thailand’s Bhumjaithai Party withdrew from Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s government in a major blow to the embattled premier, leaving her ruling coalition with only a slim majority.
The party, the second largest in the alliance and holder of 69 house seats, said its departure was due to the impact on the nation of a leak on Wednesday of a phone call between Paetongtarn and Hun Sen, the influential former premier of Cambodia, with which Thailand is involved in an escalating border dispute.
“Bhumjaithai will work with all Thai people to support the army and officials who safeguard the sovereignty, territorial integrity and interests of Thailand in all ways,” Bhumjaithai said in a statement.
A spokesperson for Paetongtarn’s government did not answer calls seeking comment on the withdrawal. The exit of Bhumjaithai leaves Paetongtarn’s government hanging by a thread and facing declining popularity as it battles to revive a lacklustre economy facing steep US tariffs if it cannot negotiate a reduction.
Thailand’s embattled Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra faced the prospect of losing her government’s majority on Friday, as a vital coalition partner looked set to demand her resignation and senators launched a legal bid to remove her from office.
Paetongtarn, the politically inexperienced daughter of divisive tycoon and former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, is fighting fires on multiple fronts, struggling to breathe life into a stagnant economy facing steep US tariffs and under pressure to take a tougher stand on a territorial row with Cambodia that has seen their troops mobilize at the border. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
