Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of the billionaire former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, has been approved as Thailand’s next prime minister after securing sufficient support from lawmakers. At 37, Paetongtarn will become the youngest prime minister to lead the country. Her appointment on Friday came after 24 hours of intense negotiations following a court ruling that ousted the former prime minister, Srettha Thavisin.
Paetongtarn is the youngest of three children born to the influential political figure Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup but remains a significant influence in Thai politics. She is the fourth member of the Shinawatra family to serve as prime minister, following her father, her uncle Somchai Wongsawat (briefly in 2008), and her aunt Yingluck Shinawatra (2011-2014). Both Somchai and Yingluck were also forced from office by court rulings.
Paetongtarn is also Thailand's second female prime minister, after Yingluck. She secured 247 votes from the 493 members of parliament to pass the vote.
Despite having no prior experience in government, Paetongtarn will take office during a time of political instability. Thaksin returned to Thailand last year after 15 years in exile, following a controversial deal with his former adversaries in the royalist military establishment. This alliance was primarily formed to counter the popular Move Forward Party, which had promised democratic reforms and the breakup of big monopolies.
The court ruling that ousted Srettha, a real estate tycoon, has highlighted the fragile nature of this alliance. Srettha, who led the country for less than a year, was the fourth Thai prime minister in 16 years to be removed by Constitutional Court judgments. He was found to have violated the constitution by appointing a minister with a criminal record—a verdict many view as politically motivated.
A week before Srettha's removal, the court also disbanded the Move Forward Party over its promise to reform the country's strict lese majesty law. Napon Jatusripitak, a visiting fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, described the court's actions as a "judicial coup," disenfranchising over 14 million voters.
After being named as Pheu Thai's prime ministerial candidate, Paetongtarn expressed respect for Srettha and described his removal as unfortunate, but emphasized the need for the country to move forward. “I have confidence in Pheu Thai. I have confidence in all government coalition parties to bring our country out of the economic crisis,” she said.
Paetongtarn played a significant role in Pheu Thai’s election campaign, leveraging her family's popularity among older rural voters in the north and northeast. Despite her active campaigning, the party came second in the election, and she did not initially run for the prime minister position last year.
Ken Lohatepanont, a researcher on Thai politics, noted that the coalition formed by Pheu Thai and its former enemies is likely to hold, as both sides aim to keep Move Forward’s successor party, the People’s Party, out of power. However, he also highlighted the increasing limitations on Thaksin's influence, putting him in the uncomfortable position of having to select his daughter to run for prime minister amid ongoing legal challenges faced by politicians.
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