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Thailand
This Week in AsiaPolitics

Thailand’s 2025 of turmoil: border war, scam crackdowns and PM musical chairs

As the country mourns the loss of Queen Mother Sirikit amid political chaos and a sluggish economy, Lisa’s global reign lights up Thai public

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Rescue workers extinguishing a fire at a house after it was hit by Cambodian rocket strikes during clashes between Thai and Cambodian troops, at a village in Kantharalak district, Si Sa Ket province, Thailand, on December 14. Photo: EPA/Royal Thai Army
Aidan Jones
It was a year defined by war with Cambodia, but also the unravelling of cyber scams around Thailand’s borders, the rise and demise of political dynasties and another period of musical chairs in the prime minister’s office.

There was also national mourning with the death of Queen Mother Sirikit, a towering figure over recent Thai history, and the omnipresence of Lalisa Manobal – or Lisa of South Korean girl group Blackpink – who rapped, acted, gyrated and produced content that seized the internet.

This was Thailand’s year:

Anutin Charnvirakul performs a traditional greeting to thank lawmakers after being elected as prime minister during a voting session in parliament in Bangkok, Thailand, on September 5. Photo: EPA
Anutin Charnvirakul performs a traditional greeting to thank lawmakers after being elected as prime minister during a voting session in parliament in Bangkok, Thailand, on September 5. Photo: EPA

Phones, bombs and yet another PM

A leaked phone call in June caught then Thai prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra calling Cambodia’s ex-leader Hun Sen “uncle” and appearing to cast shade on the Thai army in a bungled bid to diffuse a border squabble.
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Her perceived genuflection to the smaller neighbour was calamitous for her government and appeared to trigger a chain reaction that has defined the year.

Soon, Thai bombers were hitting Cambodian targets, while their neighbours fired volleys of rockets over the border in five vicious days of conflict that left dozens dead on both sides.

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Paetongtarn was then booted from office over the call, as another Thai government fell. Her father, the political heavyweight and tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra, also ran out of luck and was sent to jail for a year after an initial reprieve.
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