On the campaign trail in rural Thailand last year, Paetongtarn Shinawatra reminded voters of her influential billionaire family’s legacy of populism in what was her electoral debut.
The 37-year-old, who spent weeks at the hustings while visibly pregnant, delivered mixed results. Her Pheu Thai party came only in second in 2023’s election but cobbled together a ruling coalition after the vote-winner was blocked by military-backed lawmakers.
Now, the daughter of the country’s most divisive but enduring politician, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, will attempt to secure the office her father and aunt once occupied, underlining her family’s central place in Thai politics.
On Friday, less than 48 hours after Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin was dismissed by a court order, Paetongtarn will seek parliamentary support to replace him.
If Paetongtarn wins, she would become the youngest Thai prime minister and only the second woman to occupy the position, after her aunt Yingluck.
She would seek to beat another recurring theme for the Shinawatra family. The governmentsled by her father and aunt were toppled by the military in 2006 and 2014, respectively.
The country has to move ahead, Paetongtarn, the youngest of Thaksin’s three children, told reporters after winning Pheu Thai’s nomination.
We are determined, together and we will push the country forward.
Thaksin himself returned to Thailand last August after 15 years in self-imposed exile, just as Pheu Thai – the latest political vehicle of the former telecom tycoon – forged an alliance with military-backed parties to form a government.
It was an unlikely coming together of the populist Pheu Thai and the conservative-royalist establishment that have battled for supremacy in the country of 66 million people for over two decades, sometimes leading to coups and bouts of civil unrest.
Srettha was the fourth premier of a Thaksin-backed political party to be removed by a court ruling, a sign of the deep divide that still persists.
Into this breech will step in an untested Paetongtarn, who has never held an elected government position and has no administrative experience.
Paetongtarn spent her childhood steeped in the country’s tumultuous politics as an ambitious Thaksin charted a meteoritic rise to wealth and then launched the Thai Rak Thai Party in 1998.
When I was eight-years-old, my father entered politics. Since that day, my life has also been intertwined with politics, she said at a speech in March.
Thaksin found his way to the premiership by 2001, and expanded spending on healthcare, rural development and farming subsidies – dubbed “Thaksinomics” for the poor.
He was ejected by a military coup in 2006.
Entering university in Thailand after his unceremonious exit, Paetongtarn – also known by her nickname Ung Ing – described those years as some of her toughest, when she was also accused of cheating.
Thailand is likely to witness changes should a new and young Prime Minister take over the reins.
Team BharatShakti
(With Inputs from Reuters)
