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The 37-year-old Paetongtarn Shinawatra is the leader of the Pheu Thai party. She does not hold an elected office, which the law doesn’t require of prime ministerial candidates in Thailand read more
 "Paetongtarn Shinawatra nominated for prime minister post, could be Thailand's youngest leader")
Pheu Thai Party's leader and prime ministerial candidate Paetongtarn Shinawatra gestures on the day of a pivotal parliamentary vote on a new prime minister in Bangkok on August 16, 2024. Reuters
Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been nominated to become the prime minister of Thailand in a parliamentary vote, which took place on Friday (August 16), by Pheu Thai party’s secretary general, Sorawong Thienthong.
This vote comes after former prime minister Srettha Thavisin was removed from office by a Constitutional Court order over an ethics violation a few days ago.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra, 37, is the leader of the Pheu Thai party. She does not hold an elected office, which the law doesn’t require of prime ministerial candidates. The parliament also does not require her to be present at the vote.
If she is approved in Parliament’s vote, Paetongtarn will become Thailand’s youngest leader. She would also be the second female prime minister and the country’s third leader from the Shinawatra family. Previously, her father and aunt had been at the helm of the country’s politics.
To become the prime minister, a candidate must either secure a majority from the lower house or get at least 247 votes. The present 11 party-coalition led by Pheu Thai currently has 314 lawmakers in the lower house. All of them have announced their unanimous support for Paetongtarn.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s family background
Paetongtarn billionaire-tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra’s youngest child. Thaksin was the first Thai politician ever to win an overall majority of seats. He is one of Thailand’s most popular but divisive political figures and was ousted by a military coup in 2006.
He is widely seen as a de facto leader of Pheu Thai. His residual popularity and influence is a factor behind the political support for Paetongtarn. Thaksin returned to Thailand last year after years in exile.
When Paetongtarn was on the campaign trail for Pheu Thai, she acknowledged her family ties but insisted she was not just her father’s proxy.
‘Not the shadow of my dad’
“It’s not the shadow of my dad. I am my dad’s daughter, always and forever, but I have my own decisions,” she told a reporter.
The reality may be different, though.
According to Napon Jatusripitak, a political science researcher at Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, the coalition under the leadership of Paetongtarn could strengthen their unity because she possesses something that Srettha did not — a direct line to her powerful father who has the final say.
“In a strange way, it creates a clear chain of command and curbs factionalism,” he said. “Paetongtarn will be given clear jurisdictions on where she can exercise her own agency and where it is a matter between her father and the coalition members.”
With inputs from agencies
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