Paetongtarn was suspended after the Constitutional Court found there was “sufficient cause to suspect” she breached ministerial ethics as she tried to quash the border feud.
In a call with Cambodian ex-leader Hun Sen, she called him “uncle” and referred to a Thai military commander as her “opponent”.
A recording of the call, leaked from the Cambodian side, sparked allegations she had kowtowed to Phnom Penh and undermined the military.
But the feud has continued since Paetongtarn’s suspension. As a result of a cabinet reshuffle she organised just hours before being suspended, she is now Thailand’s serving culture minister.
In one of her first acts in that office on Friday, she halted the return of 20 ancient Khmer artefacts to Cambodia, citing funding issues despite pledging in April to hand them over.
The border row between the countries dates back to the drawing of their 800km frontier in the early 20th century, during the French occupation of Indochina.
Violence sparked by the dispute has led to at least 28 deaths in the region since 2008, but the issue had died down in recent years until the flare-up in May.
Source: CNA
