Thailand’s parliament on Friday elected political newcomer Payethongtan Shinawatra as the country’s youngest prime minister, just a day after she emerged as the center of attention amid a constant power struggle among the country’s elite.
The 37-year-old daughter of divisive political heavyweight Thaksin Shinawatra has been voted into office by the lower house and is now facing fierce criticism, just two days after her ally Sretha Thavisin was sacked as prime minister by a judiciary at the heart of Thailand’s two decades of intermittent turmoil.
Thai politics, courts prepare for major shakeup after PM Sreta Thavisin’s dismissal
For Phet Thong Thanh, what could be at stake is the legacy and political future of the billionaire Shinawatra family, whose once unstoppable popular outfit lost its first election in two decades last year and was forced to make a deal with its military enemies to form a government.
She will be Thailand’s second female prime minister and the third Shinawatra to hold the post, following her aunt Yingluck Shinawatra and her father Thaksin, Thailand’s most powerful and polarizing politician.
In his first media remarks as president-elect, Prime Minister Phaetonthan said he was saddened and distraught by Sretha’s dismissal and had decided it was time for him to step down as prime minister.
Payethongtan Shinawatra, the youngest daughter of billionaire former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, attends a press conference of the Pheu Thai Party in Bangkok, Thailand, December 6, 2022. (Reuters/Artit Perawongmehta)
“I spoke to Sreta, my family and people in my party, and decided it was time to do something for the country and the party,” she told reporters.
“I hope I can do my best to move the country forward. That’s what I’m trying to do. I’m honored and very happy today.”
Paetongtarn won easily with 319 votes, or nearly two-thirds of the House of Representatives. After her victory, she posted a photo of her lunch of chicken rice on Instagram with the caption, “First meal after hearing about the vote.”
Roll the dice
Phae Thong Than has never served in government, and the decision to appoint her is a roll of the dice for Pheu Thai and its 75-year-old leader, Thaksin.
She will face immediate challenges from a number of fronts, including a slowing economy, increased competition from rival parties and the declining popularity of Pheu Thai, which has yet to implement its flagship 500 billion baht ($14.25 billion) cash handout program.
Thailand’s benchmark SETI index was up about 1.1% as of 9 a.m. GMT on Friday, its first gain since losing about 9% this year.
“The gamble Shinawatra is making here is risky,” said Natabon Buamahakul, managing partner at government affairs consultancy Vero Advocacy.
“This puts Thaksin’s daughter in a vulnerable position and targets her.”
The fact that Sretha was ousted after less than a year in office will be a vivid example of the kind of hostility that Phae Thong Thanh will face. Thailand has been caught in a tumultuous cycle of coups and court rulings that have dismantled political parties and overthrown several governments and prime ministers.
The Shinawatra family and their business allies were among the hardest hit by the crisis, which pitted their popular party against a powerful coalition of conservatives, old capitalist families and royalist generals with deep institutional ties.
High Risk of Shinawatra
Nine days ago, the court that dismissed Sreta over a cabinet appointment dispute also dissolved the anti-establishment Move Forward party, which won the 2023 election. The party had been campaigning to change a law banning insults to the crown, which it said threatened to undermine the constitutional monarchy.
The hugely popular opposition party and Pheu Thai’s biggest challenger has since regrouped into a new party called the People’s Party.
The upheaval of the past few days has shown the fragility of the truce between Thaksin, his rivals and the military establishment, which allowed Thaksin to make a dramatic comeback in 2023 after 15 years in self-imposed exile and to be sworn in as prime minister on the same day as his ally Sretha.
Thaksin’s gamble on Phrae Thong Than at such a critical time surprised many analysts, who expected he would delay the establishment of the dynasty and avoid exposing his daughter to the war that led to his downfall and that of his sister Yingluck. Both Yingluck and Thaksin, who fled abroad to avoid jail after the military overthrew the government, have avoided prison.
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“This is a big gamble for Thaksin. There is a chance she could fail, and that is a big risk for the entire Shinawatra dynasty,” said Titipol Pakdiwanich, a political scientist at Ubon Ratchathani University.
“If she can’t get the economy back on track and revive the party, it could be the end of it, because the People’s Party is gaining more momentum after its dissolution.”
