Thai PM meets army commander in attempt to defuse political crisis

BANGKOK: Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra held make-up talks on Friday with an army commander she criticised in a leaked phone call as she struggled to defuse a crisis threatening to topple her government.

The daughter of controversial billionaire ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra and in office for less than a year, Paetongtarn is facing calls to quit or announce an election as anger flares over the call with former Cambodian leader Hun Sen.

Her main coalition partner, the conservative Bhumjaithai party, pulled out on Wednesday, saying she had insulted the country and the army and leaving her government on the point of collapse.

She suffered another blow on Friday as reports emerged that another coalition partner was threatening to quit unless she stepped down as prime minister.

The crisis has sent the Thai stock market plunging to a five-year low and comes as the kingdom struggles to fire up its sluggish economy, with US President Donald Trump´s threatened trade tariffs looming.

Paetongtarn, 38, visited troops in northeast Thailand on Friday to patch things up with Lieutenant General Boonsin Padklang after she was caught disparaging him as an “opponent” during the call with Hun Sen.

Boonsin commands Thai forces along the border with Cambodia, where a long-running dispute flared into deadly clashes last month, and Paetongtarn´s criticism of him drew accusations of disloyalty from right-wing nationalist critics.