BANGKOK, Thailand – Thailand's struggle with democracy resulted in three very different prime ministers in three days with Phumtham Wechayachai becoming the newest caretaker leader last week, after a court suspended former Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra for alleged "ethical misconduct."

So, who is Acting Prime Minister Phumtham ("POOM-tom")?

Mr. Phumtham, 72, is a veteran politician who was a commerce minister and caretaker prime minister in 2024 and Ms. Paetongtarn's defense minister during 2025.

Some generals in the U.S.-trained military were wary of Mr. Phumtham when Ms. Paetongtarn appointed the civilian as defense minister, because in 1976 he joined an anti-military leftist student movement and was nicknamed "Big Comrade" for voicing speeches against the return of military dictator Thanom Kittikachorn.

When the military violently crushed the university students' protests -- officially killing 46 students amid estimates of more than 100 dead -- Mr. Phumtham fled into the countryside with hundreds of others who were welcomed by Thailand's hardened China-backed communist guerrillas.

Students who survived those battles eventually surrendered and received amnesty. Some joined mainstream politics after changing their political views.

"I went to escape the violence," Mr. Phumtham said last year, denying the military's suspicions that he believed in communism. "It was not only me, there were other students too."

The dizzying changes at the top of this Southeast Asian, Buddhist-majority, U.S. ally are an attempt by Ms. Paetongtarn to keep herself and her Shinawatra family's dynastic Pheu Thai (For Thais) Party in her fragile ruling coalition, after the powerful Constitutional Court suspended her from the prime ministry on July 1.

In a cabinet shuffle hours before her suspension, Ms. Paetongtarn appointed herself as culture minister to remain in the government while the court deliberates her fate, which could come quickly or take weeks.

Ms. Paetongtarn, 38, faces a possible ban from politics for 10 years, or worse punishment, for criticizing a Royal Thai Army commander during her leaked phone call to Cambodia's de facto leader Hun Sen on June 15.

As a result of Ms. Paetongtarn's cabinet shakeup, the U.S.-trained military was given only a new Acting Defense Minister Gen. Nattphon Narkphanit after Mr. Phumtham resigned as defense minister to become acting prime minister.

"Leaving such an important position vacant is unprecedented in Thai politics," the editorial said, and was especially worrying because Thailand and Cambodia are involved in a deadly border dispute.

Thai troops shot dead a Cambodian soldier during a brief clash on May 28 in the jungle and scrubland of the Emerald Triangle where eastern Thailand, northern Cambodia, and southern Laos meet.

During June, the feud morphed into current economic boycotts of some imports and exports by both sides and border closures.

"Why, in a situation where we are still entangled with Cambodia, do we not have a defense minister?" said popular opposition People's Party parliamentarian Rangsiman Rome.

"I think this kind of signal is not good for the Thai people, and we all know that the defense minister is important, not just for signing arms procurement deals, but also for strategy and working with the National Security Council, which today plays an important role in resolving various problems that arise, including the Cambodia [border] issue," Mr. Rangsiman told Khaosod English news.

"Evidently, the new cabinet is not based on meritocracy," the conservative Bangkok Post said in an editorial on July 3 describing it as "a lame-duck government."

"The change is to ensure the [Pheu Thai] party's short-term, if not immediate, survival by sharing the political cake among those in its circle -- giving or returning favors so they do not jump ship and will still be around at the next election," the editorial said.

Acting Prime Minister Phumtham is a trusted aide of Ms. Paetongtarn's politically powerful father, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a billionaire perceived as the de facto leader of Thailand who influences his politically naive daughter's decisions and policies.

When a military coup toppled twice-elected Mr. Thaksin's 2001-2006 government, Mr. Phumtham and many of Mr. Thaksin's other party members were banned from politics for five years.

Mr. Phumtham's rise to become acting prime minister involved a dazzling political zig-zag.

On July 3, Mr. Phumtham replaced a previous Caretaker Prime Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit, who Ms. Paetongtarn suddenly appointed on July 2 hours before the Constitutional Court suspended her.

As a result, former Transport Minister Mr. Suriya became acting prime minister for only one day, July 2, before Mr. Phumtham took over that caretaker role on July 3.

Ms. Paetongtarn, as the new culture minister, went July 3 with her multi-party cabinet to Dusit Palace where they swore an oath of allegiance to King Vajiralongkorn as required when an administration shuffles its cabinet.

Outgoing Acting Prime Minister Suriya also took the oath as acting prime minister, alongside Mr. Phumtham who was sworn in as Thailand's new interior minister and reconfirmed as a deputy prime minister.

Hours later on July 3 Mr. Suriya resigned, as planned, to allow Mr. Phumtham to be appointed as the new caretaker prime minister.

Mr. Phumtham had previously been lower in the order of succession than Mr. Suriya, so Mr. Phumtham was unable to become acting prime minister until the cabinet reshuffle and allegiance oath on July 3.

As a newly sworn-in interior minister and deputy prime minister, Mr. Phumtham was then qualified to be promoted to be acting prime minister.

The confusing, hurried changes reflect Ms. Paetongtarn's rapidly weakening position and her seemingly desperate attempts to exploit legal loopholes in parliament, where her party has a razor-thin majority.

The National Anti-Corruption Commission, the Election Commission, and the Central Investigation Bureau are separately due to also hear allegations that her conversation with Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen may have violated the constitution or threatened Thailand's security.

Parliamentarians were scheduled for a no-confidence vote against Ms. Paetongtarn's coalition on July 3 but the five opposition parties agreed to postpone it until the Constitutional Court reviews her case which could take several weeks.

Ms. Paetongtarn said, "I insist I had no ill intentions," when she criticized the army's second commander.

The prime minister was given 15 days to defend herself in court.

The Constitution Court's nine judges voted unanimously to consider a petition by 36 appointed, pro-military senators accusing Ms. Paetongtarn of "lacking integrity" and "ethical misconduct" while speaking to Mr. Hun Sen during their ongoing border feud, and voted 7-2 to immediately suspend her from the prime ministry.

Audio from her phone call on June 15 to Cambodia's Senate President Hun Sen was leaked, exposing her criticism of Thailand's Second Army Region Commander Lt. Gen. Boonsin Padklang.

Lt. Gen. Boonsin's troops guard northeastern Thailand's border with Cambodia, including the disputed Emerald Triangle zone where the shooting occurred.

In an audio clip of her leaked call -- which she later confirmed -- Ms. Paetongtarn told Mr. Hun Sen that she did not want him "to listen to the opposing side, especially since the [Thai] Second Army Region commander is entirely from the opposition".

“He [the Thai commander] just wants to appear cool or impressive. He may say [hawkish] things that are not beneficial to the country,” Ms. Paetongtarn said to Mr. Hun Sen during her call.

The Bangkok Post described her comments about the commander as "derogatory remarks" and criticized her "submissive tone towards Hun Sen, with her signaling a readiness to comply with the Cambodian strongman's demands."

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Richard S. Ehrlich is a Bangkok-based American foreign correspondent reporting from Asia since 1978, and winner of Columbia University's Foreign Correspondents' Award. Excerpts from his two new nonfiction books, "Rituals. Killers. Wars. & Sex. -- Tibet, India, Nepal, Laos, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka & New York" and "Apocalyptic Tribes, Smugglers & Freaks" are available at
https://asia-correspondent.tumblr.com