Why is Paetongtarn’s ‘uncle’ Hun Sen attacking her amid Thai-Cambodian tensions?

Name: Thai yellow shirts return to demand Paetongtarn’s removal after leaked Hun Sen call
Uploaded: 2025-06-30T09:30:12.000Z
Duration: 3 min 33 s
Description: Thai yellow shirts return to demand Paetongtarn’s removal after leaked Hun Sen call

The Cambodian strongman’s heated tirade is a ‘calculated’ move to boost local support while deflecting international scrutiny, analysts say

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Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra (left) taking part in a business forum in Hanoi on May 16 and Cambodia’s then-prime minister Hun Sen at the EU-Asean summit on December 14, 2022. Photo: AFP

Maria Siow

Published: 5:30pm, 30 Jun 2025Updated: 6:07pm, 30 Jun 2025

Cambodia’s former leader Hun Sen has launched a flurry of personal attacks on Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra in what analysts say is an attempt to deflect international scrutiny over Cambodia’s role in regional scam operations while amplifying the political turmoil in Bangkok and consolidating his domestic political support.

In a heated live stream on Friday, Hun Sen accused Paetongtarn of insulting the Thai king and threatened to reveal damaging information about her politically influential family.

The outburst followed the leak of a private phone call in which Paetongtarn referred to a Thai military commander as “an opponent” and urged “uncle” Hun Sen not to listen to those denouncing her – remarks seen by critics as too deferential to Cambodia and disrespectful to Thailand’s military. The leak has triggered a political firestorm in Bangkok, fuelling protests, coalition cracks and legal petitions.

Taking particular issue with Paetongtarn referring to her own commander as an “opponent”, Hun Sen argued that the remark constituted “an insult to the king”.

“An insult to a regional commander is an insult to the Thai king because it is only the king who issued a royal decree to appoint him,” the Cambodian Senate president said in the live stream on his official Facebook page.

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Thai yellow shirts return to demand Paetongtarn’s removal after leaked Hun Sen call

That interpretation has been echoed in a petition filed by 36 Thai senators to the Constitutional Court, alleging that Paetongtarn’s comments might have seriously violated ethical standards by undermining the authority of a royal-appointed military commander – and by extension, the monarchy itself. The court is set to decide on Tuesday whether to accept the case, which could lead to her suspension from office.

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