Thaksin’s daughter backed by lawmakers to be next Thai PM

(Aug 15): Former Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra’s daughter is set to become the Southeast Asian nation’s next prime minister, signaling policy continuity after another party member was ousted from the top job on Wednesday.

Paetongtarn Shinawatra, 37, will contest a parliamentary vote on Friday as the nominee of a multi-party group led by Pheu Thai Party. Her nomination was endorsed by the 11-member coalition that has more than 300 members in the 500-member House of Representatives, Pheu Thai Secretary General Sorawong Thienthong said.

The election of a new leader was necessitated by the disqualification of Srettha Thavisin as prime minister in an ethics violation case.

The youngest of Thaksin’s three children, Paetongtarn is the latest face of the influential Shinawatra clan that has dominated Thai elections but routinely been booted out of office. She is set to become the second woman to become Thai prime minister after her aunt Yingluck Shinawatra.

Pheu Thai, which is effectively controlled by Thaksin and his family, has been assured of the support of some of the nation’s biggest pro-royalist conservative parties after a deal that brought the former leader back to Thailand following a prolonged exile.

A relative newcomer to politics — she formally joined Pheu Thai only in 2021 — Paetongtarn, popularly known as Ing, will also be the youngest Thai prime minister.

Paetongtarn’s appointment signals few changes to policies pursued by Srettha’s administration, which focused on bolstering growth through looser fiscal policies and tackling the high cost of living and near-record household debt. She’s advocated for lower interest rate and slammed the central bank, saying its autonomy posed an “obstacle” to resolving the country’s economic issues.

An alumnus of the University of Surrey, Paetongtarn was a key player in the Shinawatra business empire spanning a golf course and real estate to hospitality and telecommunications. She is listed as the largest shareholder of publicly traded property firm SC Asset Corp Pcl, with a 28.5% stake, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

She is also the chief executive officer for Hotel Business Group of Rende Development Co, which is run by her sister, Pintongta Shinawatra Kunakornwong, and cites the luxurious Rosewood Hotel in Bangkok as a major project.

Before assuming the premier’s role, Paetongtarn will need to relinquish her business roles and comply with share ownership rules, according to Thai laws.