Bangkok, Thailand – Thailand’s Constitutional Court has removed suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from office, after finding her guilty of ethical misconduct over a controversial phone call with Cambodia’s former leader, Hun Sen.

The ruling on Friday makes Paetongtarn the fifth prime minister since 2008 to be stripped of office by Thai judges.

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The nine-judge court, seen as allied with Thailand’s conservative royalist establishment, ruled that the 39-year-old politician had violated the ethical standards required of a prime minister during her call with Hun Sen in June, in which she discussed efforts to prevent an escalation of a deadly border conflict.

The court said Paetongtarn had put her personal interests over that of the nation and damaged the country’s reputation.

In the leaked conversation, Paetongtarn was heard pandering to Hun Sen and calling him “uncle”, while criticising a senior Thai army commander and describing him as an “opponent”.

The court had suspended Paetongtarn on July 1 pending an outcome in the trial.

The border row spiralled in the ensuing days into armed clashes that killed dozens and displaced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border.

The fighting ended with a Malaysia-brokered ceasefire on July 29.

Speaking to reporters after the verdict, Paetongtarn insisted that she had tried to safeguard the country’s interests and called on all political parties to work together to build political stability.

“My intentions were for the benefit of the country not for personal gain, but for the lives of the people, including civilians and soldiers,” she said.

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“The verdict today caused a change in Thai politics. We all have to help, all sides, whether government or opposition, or the people, all of us have to work together to build political stability and to ensure that there won’t be another turning point again.”

Friday’s ruling is the second of three high-stakes court decisions against Paetongtarn and her father, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

The 76-year-old billionaire was cleared of a charge of insulting the country’s powerful monarchy last week, but faces another court case over his stay in a hospital wing instead of prison when he returned to Thailand in 2023, after 16 years in exile, to serve a reduced sentence over corruption charges.