Court suspends Thai PM to investigate leaked phone call

Thailand's Constitutional Court suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from office Tuesday pending an ethics investigation over a leaked phone call with a senior Cambodian leader.

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The judges voted unanimously Tuesday to take the petition accusing her of a breach of ethics, and voted 7-2 to suspend her from duty as a prime minister. The court gave Paetongtarn 15 days to give evidence to support her case.

Paetongtarn has faced growing dissatisfaction over her handling of the latest border dispute with Cambodia, involving an armed confrontation on May 28 in which one Cambodian soldier was killed.

The leaked phone call while she engaged in diplomacy with Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen set off a string of complaints and public protests.

Paetongtarn said after the court order that she would accept the process and would do her best to defend herself, as she had no other intentions but to protect the country and preserve peace.

"I only thought about what to do to avoid troubles, what to do to avoid armed confrontation, for the soldiers not to suffer any loss. I wouldn't be able to accept it if I said something with the other leader that could lead to negative consequences," she said.

She also thanked her supporters and apologized to people upset over the leaked call. She left the Government House shortly after.