Meet Paetongtarn Shinawatra: Thailand's New and Youngest Prime Minister

Bangkok, VIVA – The Thailand parliament elected its youngest-ever prime minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, on Friday (Aug 17), just days after the dismissal of former Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin.

Scion of the influential Shinawatra family, Paetongtarn succeeded Srettha Thavisin, who became the fourth premier in 16 years to be removed by the Constitutional Court on Wednesday.

Srettha was found guilty of ethics violation for appointing a convicted lawyer as a minister earlier this year in May.

Paetongtarn, as well as Srettha, represents the Pheu Thai Party which has 141 lawmakers in the lower house of the country’s bi-cameral parliament.

With the support of 10 other parties, the party’s numbers climbed to 314 in the house of 493 lawmakers.

Paetongtarn received 319 votes as 145 voted against her, while 27 lawmakers abstained from participating in the prime minister’s election.

Yet a newcomer to politics, she rose to prominence due to her persistent presence during campaigning ahead of general elections last year.

She was born in Bangkok on August 21, 1986, Paetongtarn is the daughter of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Known as Ung Ing among the Thai people, she is the third member of the influential Shinawatra family to serve as the prime minister of Thailand.

Youngest among her siblings, she is the niece of Yingluck Shinawatra, who was the prime minister between 2011 and 2014, when the latter was ousted by the Thai Constitutional Court.

They are the only two women to have held the top position in Thailand.

A businesswoman, Paetongtarn did her early schooling at Saint Joseph Convent and Mater Dei Schools before graduating with a bachelor's degree in Political Science, Sociology, and Anthropology from the Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University in 2008.

Later, she earned an MSc degree in International Hotel Management from the University of Surrey, UK.

She married Pitaka Suksawat in 2019 with one of the two receptions held in Bangkok and the prime minister has two children, including a daughter.

Pitaka, a commercial pilot, and Paetongtarn held another glitzy reception in Hong Kong.  

Nourished in a political family, Paetongtarn formally joined politics to head the advisory committee on participation, as well as innovation for the Pheu Thai Party on Oct. 28, 2021.

Later, she was anointed as the head of the Pheu Thai Family project on March 20, 2022.

During general elections last year, Paetongtarn was put forward as the party’s candidate for prime minister, later named the vice-chairperson of the National Soft Power Strategy Committee, and finally rose to become party leader last October.

She was expecting a baby while campaigning for the party.

The British-educated Thai politician also has shares in several family-owned businesses, including the SC Asset Corporation.

While Paetongtarn’s aunt Yingluck was removed by the Thai Constitutional Court in 2014, her father Thaksin was ousted in a military coup in 2006 when he was on a trip to the US.

Formerly a policeman, Thaksin won two elections in the early 2000s and is a telecoms tycoon in the country.

A politician with social liberal thoughts, Paetongtarn has expressed her support to rewriting the Buddhist nation’s constitution and scrapping military conscription.

Paetongtarn opposes changing sensitive lese-majeste laws, which led to the dissolution of the opposition of Move Forward Part early this month. Such laws disallow criticism of the monarchy.

However, Paetongtarn has supported stricter drug and crime control measures in a nation, popular for its coastal tourist destinations which attracted over 28 million visitors last year, as quoted from Anadolu Ajansi site.