Paetongtarn Shinawatra has made history as Thailand’s youngest-ever prime minister after being confirmed by parliament, representing the ruling coalition of her Pheu Thai party. At 37, Paetongtarn, also known as Ung Ing, succeeds Srettha Thavisin, who was ousted by a constitutional court ruling on Wednesday. She is the third member of the Shinawatra family to hold the nation’s top office, following her father, Thaksin Shinawatra, and her aunt.
Srettha’s removal is the latest development in Thailand’s ongoing political struggle between the military-aligned, pro-royalist establishment and the populist factions linked to Thaksin. Thaksin, a billionaire tycoon, initially became prime minister in 2001 but was ousted in a 2006 military coup, spending years in exile before returning to Thailand last year when Pheu Thai formed the government.
Paetongtarn was selected as the new prime minister by the ruling coalition after a Thursday night meeting, with none of the other 10 coalition parties proposing alternative candidates. Pheu Thai and its allies control 314 seats in parliament, and Paetongtarn needed the approval of more than half of the 493 lawmakers to secure the position.
Before entering politics three years ago, Paetongtarn helped manage the hotel division of her family’s business empire. Though she has never held elected office, she was a prominent figure on the campaign trail during the 2023 elections, where she was one of Pheu Thai’s prime ministerial candidates, even giving birth just two weeks before election day.
The reformist Move Forward Party (MFP) initially won the most seats in parliament but was blocked from forming a government by the Senate, which was then appointed by the military and had veto power over prime ministerial appointments. Last week, the constitutional court dissolved the MFP and banned its executive board members from politics for 10 years due to the party’s promise to amend strict royal defamation laws.