Thai PM's Suspension Could Spell End of Shinawatra Dominance

Concurrent legal challenges facing both father and daughter portend turning point

- Philip Wen

BANGKOK - As an ashen-faced Paetongtarn Shinawatra breezed past waiting reporters after a July 1 Cabinet briefing just hours before a Constitutional Court decision that temporarily suspended her from office, her influential father Thaksin Shinawatra also opted to keep a low profile while arriving for his separate court hearings over charges of royal defamation around the same time.

The concurrent legal challenges facing both father and daughter portend not just a symbolic turning point for the immediate future of Thailand's government, but also the longer-term fortunes of the country's most prominent political family and its one-time electoral powerhouse Pheu Thai Party.

"It is worth wondering whether or not this suspension marks the beginning of the end for the political dominance of the Shinawatra family," said political analyst Ken Lohatepanont.

"Both the legal system and public opinion are putting Pheu Thai in an extremely precarious position."

Thailand's Constitutional Court decided on July 1 to suspend Ms Paetongtarn from office until it reaches a decision on a petition filed by 36 senators seeking her removal as prime minister. It is the latest blow in a calamitous fortnight for the 38-year-old, after a leaked recording of her phone call with former Cambodian leader Hun Sen first surfaced on June 18.

The senators said the June 15 call - in which Ms Paetongtarn addressed Mr Hun Sen as "uncle" and referred to a Thai army commander as an "opponent" - breached ethical standards and compromised the country's sovereignty.

Ms Paetongtarn, already facing electoral pressure for struggling to turn around Thailand's sluggish economy, has apologized for her remarks and has said they were part of a negotiation tactic aimed at de-escalating tensions with Cambodia after a brief border skirmish.