Who Is Paetongtarn Shinawatra? Youngest Prime Minister Of Thailand

Paetongtarn Shinawatra made history as the youngest-ever and the second female Prime Minister of Thailand on August 16. The Thai Parliament elected the 37-year-old after dismissing Srettha Thavisin over 'ethical and moral' breaches. Shinawatra comes from a family steeped in political lineage. She is the daughter of former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, who founded the Pheu Thai Party, and the niece of Thailand's first female PM, Yingluck Shinawatra. The Shinawatra billionaire family also owns a business empire.

Who Is The New Thai PM?

Paetongtarn Shinawatra enjoyed a landslide victory in the Parliament as her party and its allies constitute 314 out of 493 seats. She required the vote of at least half of the current legislators. She entered politics in 2021, as the chief of Pheu Thai's Inclusion and Innovation Advisory Committee.

Before politics, Shinawatra ran the hotel arm of her family business. She has a bachelor's degree in Political Science, Sociology, and Anthropology from Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, and a postgraduate degree in International Hotel Management from the University of Surrey, England.

Paetongtarn Shinawatra also ran for PM in 2023. Her campaign included lowering public transportation fares, expanding healthcare coverage and doubling the minimum daily wage. She was one of the favoured candidates. Her second child was born just two weeks before the elections.

Shinawatra's father, Thaksin Shinawatra was elected with the Thai Rak Thai Party in 2001 until he was deposed by a military coup in 2006. His sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, became the PM in 2011 until she was removed by the Constitutional Court in 2014, after which another military coup happened.

Both Thaksin and Yingluck left Thailand for self-imposed exile to avoid arrest, until the former returned in August 2023. Paetongtarn Shinawatra's appointment as the Prime Minister comes amid a long-standing dispute between the pro-royalist military and populist parties linked to the Pheu Thai party.