Paetongtarn Shinawatra Becomes Thailand’s Youngest Prime Minister

Thailand’s Parliament on August 16, elected Paetongtarn Shinawatra as their youngest Prime Minister, days after her father Thaksin Shinawatra was removed by a court order. On the campaign trail in rural Thailand last year, Paetongtarn Shinawatra reminded voters of her influential billionaire family’s legacy of populism in what was her electoral debut.

Second female to hold the prime ministerial position

The 37-year-old Shinawatra received 319 votes, which is nearly two-thirds of the house. With this victory, she became the second female to hold the prime ministerial position after her aunt Yingluck Shinawatra.
At stake for Paetongtarn could be the legacy and political future of the billionaire Shinawatra family, whose once unstoppable populist juggernaut suffered its first defeat in over two decades last year, and had to do a deal with its bitter enemies in the military to form a government.

About Paetongtarn Shinawatra

She was born in Bangkok, Paetongtarn is a premier shareholder of SC Asset Corporation and a director of the Thaicom Foundation. She graduated from Chulalongkorn University with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science, Sociology, and Anthropology in 2008, as mentioned in her profile on Thaicom Foundation’s official site. She later earned a master’s degree in International Hotel Management from the University of Surrey in England.

Paetongtarn in politics

Thaksin’s youngest child has had a short political trajectory. Paetongtarn entered politics in 2022, being elected as ‘Head of the Pheu Thai Family’ which made her a leading prime minister-candidate for the Pheu Thai Party. “When I was eight-years-old, my father entered politics. Since that day, my life has also been intertwined with politics,” she said at a speech in March.

No administrative experience

In April 2023, she was formally nominated as one of the three prime minister candidates, along with Srettha Thavisin -the 30th Prime Minister of Thailand, and Chaikasem Nitisiri -the Minister of Justice in her aunt’s cabinet. The brief political journey leaves Paetongtarn with limited to no administrative experience with an elected government position she has never held before. Previously she has been remarked to be inexperienced as she received backlash when she criticised the Bank of Thailand’s independence as an “obstacle” to resolving economic problems.