Meet Paetongtarn Shinawatra: Thailand's New and Youngest Prime Minister
- AP Photo
Bangkok, VoxPop – The Thailand parliament elected its youngest-ever prime minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, on Friday (Aug 17), just days after the dismissal of former Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin.
Scion of the influential Shinawatra family, Paetongtarn succeeded Srettha Thavisin, who became the fourth premier in 16 years to be removed by the Constitutional Court on Wednesday.
Srettha was found guilty of ethics violation for appointing a convicted lawyer as a minister earlier this year in May.
Paetongtarn, as well as Srettha, represents the Pheu Thai Party which has 141 lawmakers in the lower house of the country’s bi-cameral parliament.
With the support of 10 other parties, the party’s numbers climbed to 314 in the house of 493 lawmakers.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra PM Baru Thailand (Doc: AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
- VoxPop.co.id/Natania Longdong
Paetongtarn received 319 votes as 145 voted against her, while 27 lawmakers abstained from participating in the prime minister’s election.
Yet a newcomer to politics, she rose to prominence due to her persistent presence during campaigning ahead of general elections last year.
She was born in Bangkok on August 21, 1986, Paetongtarn is the daughter of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Known as Ung Ing among the Thai people, she is the third member of the influential Shinawatra family to serve as the prime minister of Thailand.
Youngest among her siblings, she is the niece of Yingluck Shinawatra, who was the prime minister between 2011 and 2014, when the latter was ousted by the Thai Constitutional Court.
They are the only two women to have held the top position in Thailand.
A businesswoman, Paetongtarn did her early schooling at Saint Joseph Convent and Mater Dei Schools before graduating with a bachelor's degree in Political Science, Sociology, and Anthropology from the Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University in 2008.
Later, she earned an MSc degree in International Hotel Management from the University of Surrey, UK.
She married Pitaka Suksawat in 2019 with one of the two receptions held in Bangkok and the prime minister has two children, including a daughter.
