BANGKOK, Aug 21, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Thailand's suspended prime minister 
Paetongtarn Shinawatra arrived at court on Thursday to testify in a case 
seeking to remove her from office over her handling of the kingdom's border 
row with Cambodia.

Paetongtarn, daughter of controversial but influential billionaire ex-prime 
minister Thaksin Shinawatra, is accused of failing in her duties by not 
standing up for the country properly in a call with former Cambodian leader 
Hun Sen, audio of which was leaked online.

The Constitutional Court, which ousted her predecessor as prime minister a 
year ago in a separate ethics case, will rule next Friday on whether 
Paetongtarn should be thrown out of office.

The court suspended Paetongtarn from office last month and summoned her to 
answer questions in the case on Thursday -- her 39th birthday.

Dressed in a black business suit, Paetongtarn smiled and greeted reporters as 
she arrived at court in Bangkok with Prommin Lertsuridej, a top adviser who 
is named in the case with her.

The case centres around her call in June with Hun Sen, Cambodia's longtime 
ruler and father of its current premier, which focused on the two neighbours' 
then-brewing row over their disputed border.

In the call, Paetongtarn addressed Hun Sen as "uncle" and referred to a Thai 
military commander as her "opponent", sparking a furious reaction in 
Thailand.

Conservative lawmakers accused her of kowtowing to Cambodia and undermining 
the military -- a hugely powerful institution in Thailand.

The main partner in Paetongtarn's ruling coalition walked out in protest at 
her conduct in the leaked call, a move that almost collapsed her government.

A group of senators filed a petition with the Constitutional Court arguing 
Paetongtarn should be removed from office for breaching constitutional 
provisions that require "evident integrity" and "ethical standards" among 
ministers.

If the verdict goes against her, Paetongtarn would become the third Shinwatra 
to be ousted early as premier, after her father and aunt Yingluck -- both 
thrown out in military coups.

Thai politics has been driven for two decades by a battle between the 
conservative, pro-military, pro-royalist elite and the Shinawatra clan, whom 
they consider a threat to the kingdom's traditional social order.

As well as precipitating a political crisis, the call -- released in full 
online by Hun Sen -- plunged Thai-Cambodian relations into turmoil.

Later in June, the border row erupted into the two sides' deadliest military 
clashes in decades, with more than 40 people killed and 300,000 forced to 
flee their homes along the border.