Paetongtarn Shinawatra comes from one of the most influential and divisive families in Thai politics. Her father Thaksin was once considered unbeatable at the ballot box, and she is the fourth member of the family to lead the country.
But much has changed since the peak of her father’s popularity, and Paetongtarn – Thailand’s youngest ever prime minister – will probably face an uphill battle in office.
The Shinawatra’s Pheu Thai party came second in last year’s election to a newer rival, Move Forward, which promised democratic reforms. To gain power, Pheu Thai made a controversial deal with their longstanding enemies in the military royalist establishment. The arrangement allowed Thaksin to return home after having spent 15 years in exile to escape what he said were politically motivated legal cases, and pushed Move Forward into opposition. But it was seen by many voters as a deep betrayal; Pheu Thai was joining hands with parties linked to those it had longed struggled against, including figures who drove Yingluck Shinawatra, Thaksin’s sister, from office and seized power in a coup in 2014.
Now Paetongtarn, who has never served in government, faces the delicate task of maintaining such an unlikely coalition, and trying to rebuild the party’s image. She will need to navigate a power struggle that dates back two decades – one that has seen two military coups since 2006, which ousted her father and later replaced her aunt and resulted in countless politicians banned and parties disbanded.
Paetongtarn’s father rose to power in 2001, and developed a loyal following among rural voters in the north and the north-east, after offering policies such as universal health coverage. But he was also accused of corruption and human rights abuses, and loathed by Thailand’s royalist military elite.
Paetongtarn was a student at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, an elite conservative institution, when, in 2006, a political crisis engulfed her father’s premiership, and divided the country. In class, professors did not hide their dislike for her father. On the campus, students hung posters with Thaksin’s face crossed out; her friends tried to steer her away in the opposite direction, so that she wouldn’t have to walk past them.
On 19 September of that year, Paetongtarn’s mother called to say that tanks were on the streets. She couldn’t go home, but should drive straight to a safe house; her father, who was abroad attending the UN general assembly, had been ousted. “I was so scared. I was still in my uniform,” Paetongtarn previously told the Thai media.
Later, in 2008, Thaksin’s brother-in-law Somchai Wongsawat was prime minister briefly, but was forced from power by a court ruling.
In 2014, Paetongtarn’s aunt Yingluck was also removed from office by a court ruling – and then the military took power again.
After graduating, Paetongtarn studied hotel management at Surrey University in Guildford, England and later returned to Thailand to work in her family’s business empire. In 2021 she was appointed chief adviser for participation and innovation in Pheu Thai, and was as one of three prime ministerial candidates for the party in last year’s election.
She was at the forefront of Pheu Thai’s election campaign as the party sought to drive up support among those who are loyal to her father. She was pregnant during the election campaign, but would ring into rallies through a video link when unable to tour the country. She gave birth two weeks before polling day.
However, last year’s election underlined how Thaksin’s popularity has faded. The heavyweight Pheu Thai was eclipsed by the youthful, Move Forward, which captured the most votes by promising reforms and to help it escape a cycle of military coups that has dominated politics.
Pheu Thai’s deal with military-linked parties, which pushed Move Forward into opposition, angered many voters, including some of Thaksin’s loyal supporters. Online, there were even calls to boycott mint-choc ice drinks, known to be a favourite of Paetongtarn, in protest against the party’s actions.
Paetongtarn did not ultimately run to be the party’s prime ministerial candidate when it took power last year. However, a shock court verdict on Wednesday, ordering prime minister Srettha Thavisin to step down for ethics violations – a verdict many consider political – left the party with few options.
Paetongtarn has little political experience but will now need to manage Thailand’s tumultuous politics, and revive the country’s sluggish economy. And while parties associated with Thaksin was once the most popular – many voters are now convinced change lies elsewhere.