Thailand’s Parliament chose Paetongtarn Shinawatra, 37, to become the country’s prime minister on Friday, elevating a candidate with no governing experience to the leadership of a nation in profound political turmoil.
Here is what to know:
Heir to a Powerful Political Dynasty
Ms. Paetongtarn, also known by her nickname, Ung Ing, is the third and youngest child of the tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra, 75, who was prime minister from 2001 to 2006. The political parties he founded, including the Pheu Thai party his daughter now represents, consistently won elections. He was removed in a coup but has wielded influence even while living in exile to escape corruption charges.
Ms. Paetongtarn’s uncle-in-law, Somchai Wongsawat, was also removed as prime minister in 2008, when the Constitutional Court ordered the dissolution of his party.
Her aunt, Yingluck Shinawatra, 57, is a former prime minister who has faced the same fate. A younger sister of Mr. Thaksin, she became prime minister in 2011 and was removed in a coup in 2014 and fled the country in 2017 to avoid criminal negligence charges.
Background and Education
As a child, Ms. Paetongtarn shadowed her father while he campaigned and played golf. She graduated from Chulalongkorn University, one of Thailand’s top schools, with a degree in political science. She studied international hotel management at the University of Surrey in England.
She was 20 when she witnessed the Thai army’s coup against her father. She helped lead a family-run hotel management company. And then she was drafted into politics last year, joining the populist Pheu Thai party and becoming a front-running candidate for prime minister. The campaign fell during the last trimester of her pregnancy with her second child.
“My passion is hotel,” she said in an interview in March 2022. “But after having a child, my thinking changed,” she added. “I want to make the country livable for my children.”
Ms. Paetongtarn’s rise has kindled a nostalgia for the legacy of her family among its supporters. Among critics, it has also fueled condemnation of its past scandals and questions about her credentials besides her family name.
“I have a solid team, a team that once was a government, once served the people, once pushed policies successfully,” she said in an interview in March 2023. “That made me dare to say that I am ready.”
Despite her influential family ties, many, including party insiders, considered her unready to lead the nation because of her lack of political experience. Pheu Thai ultimately chose Mr. Srettha as its candidate. But it later named Ms. Paetongtarn as its party leader.
Her Rise to Prime Minister
Pita Limjaroenrat, a politician of the Move Forward Party, won the most votes in the election with a pro-reform agenda that, among other issues, called for changes to a law that made it a crime to criticize the Thai monarchy. But the military-appointed Senate rejected the results, voting not to let him become prime minister. The Constitutional Court also banned his party.
Mr. Srettha became prime minister in 2023. But less than a year later, on Wednesday, the Constitutional Court ousted him, finding that he had violated ethics standards. Pheu Thai on Thursday chose Ms. Paetongtarn as its candidate to be Mr. Srettha’s successor, and she accepted the nomination.
Ms. Paetongtarn faces a floundering economy, and as she takes office, she is seen as likely to continue some of Mr. Srettha’s economic stances, including advocating for lower interest rates and less autonomy for the central bank.
And hanging over her is the possibility of pressure from the military and its royalist allies. Many accuse them of repeatedly undermining the democratic process, and they have seemingly turned against their recent and uneasy understanding with her father.
Muktita Suhartono contributed reporting.
Read More: Who Is Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Thailand’s New Prime Minister?
