Thailand’s new prime minister renews the legacy of her divisive father, Thaksin Shinawatra

Published August 16, 2024 1:45 AM

Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — The election of Paetongtarn Shinawatra as Thailand’s prime minister represents a remarkable comeback for the political dynasty founded by her billionaire father, Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted by a military coup in 2006.

Paetongtarn, 37, a former executive in a hotel business run by her family, becomes the third close member of the Shinawatra clan to take the prime minister’s job. Thaksin’s sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, was Thailand’s first female prime minister from 2011 to 2014. An in-law, Somchai Wongsawat, also served briefly in 2008.

Although Thaksin was a vastly popular politician who handily won three elections, Thailand’s royalist establishment was disturbed that his populist policies appeared to threaten their status and that of the monarchy at the heart of Thai identity. Months of protests helped drive both him and Yingluck out of office and into exile.

Then last year, Thaksin alienated many of his old supporters with what looked like a self-serving deal with his former conservative foes. It allowed his return from exile and his party to form the new government, while sidelining the progressive Move Forward Party, which finished first in a national election but was seen by the establishment as a greater threat.

When Paetongtarn was on the campaign trail for the Thaksin-backed Pheu Thai party, she acknowledged her family ties but insisted she was not her father’s proxy. “It’s not the shadow of my dad. I am my dad’s daughter, always and forever, but I have my own decisions,” she told a reporter.

As she comes to power, however, there are no signs she has carved her own niche with ideas that would distinguish her policies from those endorsed by her party or her father, a smorgasbord of measures including loosened tourist entry rules to help rev up a sagging economy.

And not everything has been squared away with her family’s enemies. Yingluck remains in exile, and legal problems — arguably politically inspired — could see her jailed if she returns to Thailand. Thaksin also still faces some legal challenges.

However, Paetongtarn exuded confidence and empathy as she campaigned last year, traveling extensively and addressing rallies around the country while pregnant with her second child. Her son, Prutthasin, was born less than two weeks before the election. Her husband, Pitaka Suksawat, was a commercial pilot, but after their marriage began working in one of the Shinawatras’ real estate ventures.

Paetongtarn, widely known by her nickname “Ung Ing,” is the youngest of Thaksin’s three children, and it’s clear she is the one chosen to carry on her father’s legacy.

Her public entry into politics came in 2021 when the Pheu Thai party named her chief of its Inclusion and Innovation Advisory Committee.

Asked then if she would become a politician or a candidate for prime minister, she told reporters: “I feel safer to be an adviser than a politician. I want to make my project successful. For other things, I am not ready yet.”

Politics watchers, however, could read the tea leaves.

Paetongtarn’s appointment showed that Thaksin remained influential in Pheu Thai and has been its main decision-maker, said Kovit Wongsurawat, an associate professor in the law school at Bangkok’s Assumption University.

“Previously, Thaksin let people outside his family run the party and nothing seemed to get better,” Kovit said, referring to the time Thaksin was in exile. “I am not surprised that he let his daughter take this position. It is not easy for him to find someone he can really trust.”

In late 2022, as Thailand geared up for elections, Paetongtarn raised her profile, speaking like a candidate for prime minister. Pheu Thai named her as one of its three official prime ministerial candidates ahead of the polls.

“The next four years will be the years that our country will bounce back and regain our dignity and pride,” Paetongtarn said at a campaign rally. “To think big and act smart will help rebuild our country and improve the livelihood of Thai people — as if it’s a miracle. Only political stability will help us.”

Paetongtarn outlined proposals that she said would benefit ordinary Thais, including doubling the daily minimum wage, expanding health care coverage and reducing fares on Bangkok’s public transportation system.

“All we have to do is to work together to change the country’s leadership,” she said.

Observers could see she learned from her father.

“She connects with the electorate, the base. She also has, I think, some talent that may have been inherited from her father in terms of going out on stump speeches, connecting with voters, speaking in front of large crowds, and running a campaign, while being pregnant,” said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a professor of political science at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University. “She is definitely prime minister material.”

Though Thaksin, with his wealth and popularity, has remained one of Thailand’s top political operators, time has weakened his grip, if only slightly.

Last year, for the first time, a party under his control failed to finish first in a national election, yielding the top spot to the Move Forward Party, whose progressive policies successfully wooed younger voters.

Behind the scenes, however, with the help of the conservative forces that once brought him down, Thaksin reportedly engineered a deal allowing his return from exile and freezing out Move Forward, putting Pheu Thai at the head of a new coalition government.

When Thaksin returned to Thailand last August, Paetongtarn was the most prominent among the family members who appeared with him.

Speculation she would take a Cabinet position proved unfounded. Instead, she took on the role of promoting Thailand’s “soft power,” highlighting such national selling points as food, culture, sports and the Pride parade in Bangkok.

Her political position strengthened significantly in October when she was chosen as leader of Pheu Thai. The move reasserted the Shinawatra family’s overt domination of the party and made a future bid for the post of prime minister almost inevitable.