After Prime Minister Saitha was dismissed due to unconstitutional qualifications case, on the 16th, the 37-year-old Pheu Thai Party leader Pethonthan was elected as the new Prime Minister of Thailand, thus becoming the youngest Prime Minister in Thailand’s history and the country’s youngest prime minister. The second female Prime Minister.
is only 37 years old and a political amateur. He just entered the political arena a few years ago. How did Petontan move to the center of the political stage so quickly?
The Greatest Hits
Pethonthan was born on August 21, 1986. She is the youngest daughter of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
During high school, she studied at St. Joseph's Convent School in Bangkok and Mete Dei High School, a famous aristocratic girls' school in Thailand.
In 2008, Pethonthan graduated from the School of Political Science at Chulalongkorn University with a bachelor's degree in political science, sociology and anthropology.
However, it was revealed that Pethontan might have been admitted to a prestigious Thai school without meeting the score. Thaksin's daughter was suspected of "back door" admission, which caused a stir.
After graduating from university, Petuntan went to the UK for further study. He studied at the prestigious University of Surrey in the UK and received a master's degree in international hotel management.
After returning to China, Petontin helped manage the family's business empire and manage hotel-related industries.
Thanks to the strong family business, Petontin is at home in the business world. She is the major shareholder of Thai real estate giant SC Asset Company and a director of Thailand Telecom (thaicom) Foundation - her father Thaksin was originally a "telecom tycoon" with a net worth of hundreds of millions. As of 2022, Pethontan holds a total of 21 company shares worth approximately 68 billion baht.
After his father and aunt Yingluck Shinawatra were ousted from the position of prime minister, Petongtan seemed to be the successor who was favored and deliberately cultivated within the family.
Since joining the Pheu Thai Party actually led by his father Thaksin Shinawatra in 2019, Pethon Than has been on a meteoric rise.
was elected as a member of the House of Commons of the Thai Parliament in 2020; became a political advisor to the Pheu Thai Party in 2021, including serving as chairman of the Pheu Thai Party's Inclusion and Innovation Advisory Committee; in March 2022, was appointed as the leader of the "Pheu Thai Family" - Pheu Thai Party A position specially created for Pethontan; elected as the leader of the Thai Party in October 2023.
In the 2023 Thai general election, Pethontan was also one of the three prime ministerial candidates of the Thai Party. He once led the polls and was widely considered to be expected to become the prime minister of Thailand.
Pethonthan takes liberal stances on social issues, including supporting LGBT rights and Thailand's passage earlier this year of a bill legalizing same-sex marriage.
She also supports amending the constitution and abolishing the military conscription. However, she opposed changes to the lèse-majesté law. Petuntin also takes a tough stance on the fight against drugs. Why did
become so popular?
crossed over from the business world to the political world. In just a few years, Petontin's popularity increased steadily and he quickly reached the top of power. Outsiders believe that this is supported by a series of factors such as family strength, father's political achievements, and personal charm.
Petong Than comes from the famous Thaksin family, which has produced three prime ministers before, including her father Thaksin, aunt Yingluck Shinawatra, and uncle Somchai.
Although Thaksin's family has been "overthrown" several times in political turmoil, and Thaksin himself has been in exile overseas for 15 years and only returned to China last year, Thaksin's political influence has not been diluted.
The Thaksin family still has a large number of die-hard supporters in Thailand, mainly from the urban and rural bottom classes. This is mainly due to the political achievements and political legacy left by Thaksin when he was in power.
During his tenure as Prime Minister, Thaksin led Thailand out of the financial crisis and achieved economic development. His policies such as universal health insurance and public utility subsidies have also been widely welcomed by the public.
The reason why Petontin has a smooth political path can be said to have inherited the family's reputation and his father's political achievements to a large extent.
However, Petontin does not rely solely on family capital to support her. She is also very hardworking, quite energetic and charming.
During last year’s general election, Pethonthan was very hands-on and frequently appeared in various political activities and political propaganda rallies, including participating in the Bangkok mayoral election campaign and helping to canvass votes for Pheu Thai Party candidates.
At that time, she used the campaign slogan of the Pheu Thai Party - "Think boldly, act smartly, for all Thais."
Pethontan promised to create a new era of social equality and to help Thailand's poor, especially farmers, get out of trouble.
It is worth mentioning that Petuntan was pregnant with Liujia when she "camped" for the general election last year. She gave birth to her second child during the period and returned to the campaign shortly after giving birth.
With the active efforts of Pethonthan, the Pheu Thai Party team expanded rapidly, and the number of party members increased from 8 million to 14 million.
As a new generation of politicians, Pethontan is not only good-looking and energetic, but he can also make use of the charm of his father, Thaksin, to gain fans for himself. On the social media Instagram, Petuntan will share his daily life from time to time, and his father Thaksin is often cleverly included in the shot. These "down-to-earth" interactions have brought Petontin a large number of fans.
higher risk?
As the youngest prime minister in Thailand’s history, and also the second female prime minister, Pethonthan may face more challenges than glory in the political future.
With the dissolution of the Far Progress Party, the largest party in the lower house of parliament, and the dismissal of Prime Minister Saitha, Thai politics is currently slipping into a new period of turmoil.
Public opinion believes that the two shocking rulings of the Constitutional Court mean that the political conservative forces such as the royalists and the military and the populist forces represented by Thaksin may start a fierce struggle and game again after a brief reconciliation.
Although the Thaksin family has given birth to three prime ministers before, from Thaksin to Yingluck Shinawatra, almost all have not escaped the fate of stepping down.
At the same time, Thailand’s economic recovery after the epidemic has been slow, lagging far behind many other ASEAN countries. When Settar was in power, he also caused public dissatisfaction due to the slow advancement of economic policies.
After being selected as the prime minister candidate, Pethonthan issued a statement saying that the ruling coalition led by the Pheu Thai Party will help Thailand cope with the economic crisis.
Public opinion believes that how to boost the economy and regain public trust will be a major challenge for the new government.
"She could be attacked." Pethontan faces a higher risk, said political scientist Titipol Pakdivanich of the Rajabhat University in Ubon Ratchathani. If Pheu Thai cannot make any contribution, the political career of the Thaksin family may come to an end.
7-year-old Petontin is ready to take on the heavy responsibility and risk? Can we escape the "curse" and govern smoothly in the future? Will wait and see.