BANGKOK: Pheu Thai leader Paetongtarn Shinawatra was elected as the 31st prime minister of Thailand during a special session of the House of Representatives on Friday.
Paetongtarn received 319 votes for, 145 votes against with 27 abstentions.
Six MPs from the opposition Thai Sang Thai Party voted in support of Paetongtarn.
Notably absent from the vote were Palang Pracharat leader Prawit Wongsuwan and Pheu Thai list MP Chalerm Yoobamrung.
After House Speaker Wan Muhammad Noor Matha opened the session at 10:00 (11:00 MYT), Pheu Thai Secretary-General Sorawong Thienthong proposed Paetongtarn as the sole prime ministerial candidate.
The result of the vote was announced at 12:34.
The House Speaker will now submit her name for royal endorsement. She becomes the third member of the Shinawatra family to lead the country, after her father Thaksin and aunt Yingluck.
Paetongtarn’s background
Paetongtarn, 37, is the youngest child of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his ex-wife Khunying Potjaman Damapong.
Education: She attended Saint Joseph Convent School and Mater Dei School before earning a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science, Sociology, and Anthropology from Chulalongkorn University in 2008.
She went on to study in the UK, receiving an MSc in International Hotel Management from the University of Surrey.
Political experience: Paetongtarn was appointed chair of Pheu Thai’s advisory committee on participation and innovation on October 28, 2021.
She became head of the “Pheu Thai Family” project on March 20, 2022.
At the 2023 general election, she was nominated as one of Pheu Thai’s three prime minister candidates, alongside Srettha Thavisin who was removed from office on Wednesday by court order.
She became vice-chair of the National Soft Power Strategy Committee on September 13, 2023.
Paetongtarn was appointed Pheu Thai Party leader on October 27, 2023.
Private life: She is married to commercial airline pilot Pidok Sooksawas, with whom she has two children.
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