Daughter of former PM becomes youngest PM of Thailand

Petontantangwat

Central Asia (CA) – Pathumthana Shinawatra, daughter of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, has been elected as Thailand’s prime minister, the Bangkok Post reported on Friday.

At 37, Shinawatra became the youngest prime minister in Thailand’s modern history.

319 parliamentary deputies voted for her, 145 against and 27 abstained. She is the only candidate for the post of prime minister.

The ruling coalition holds 314 of Thailand’s 493 parliamentary seats. Meanwhile, 141 of those seats belong to the Phua Thai party, which reported the day before that everyone in the coalition supports Shinawatra’s candidacy and will vote for her.

Last Wednesday, Thailand’s Constitutional Court removed Prime Minister Setia Tawisin from office for ethical violations and ruled that parliament must choose a new head of government.

The court made the decision because Taweesin was appointed as the chief of staff of Prime Minister Pichit Chingban in the spring of 2024, and Pichit Chingban was sentenced to six months in prison in 2008 for trying to bribe a judge with 2 million Thai baht (about $55,000).

Pathumthorn Shinawatra will become the third representative of her family to serve as prime minister. Her father served from 2001 to 2006 and her aunt Yingluck served from 2011 to 2014.

The new prime minister was born on August 21, 1986. She studied political science, sociology and anthropology at Chulalongkorn University in her native country and international hotel management at the University of Surrey in the U.K. Shinawatra is the largest shareholder of the Thai company SC Asset Corporation.

Shinawatra has two children.