Youngest Prime Minister of Thailand ,Paetongtarn Shinawatra sworn in

Ms Paetongtarn Shinawatra was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Thailand after King Maha Vajiralongkorn approved her name. Paetongtarn Shinawatra will replace her fellow partymen, Srettha Thavisin, as the Prime Minister after Srettha Thavisin was dismissed by Thailand’s Constitutional Court for violating ethics.

The court found Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin guilty of violating ethics by appointing a minister, Pikichit Chuenban, who had previously served a jail sentence.

Youngest Prime Minister of Thailand 

37-year-old Paetongtarn Shinawatra is the youngest Prime Minister of Thailand. She is also the second female Prime Minister of Thailand after Yingluck Shinawatra. Ms Paetongtarn Shinawatra is the niece of Yingluck Shinawatra.

She got the approval of Thailand’s King after she secured a two-thirds majority in the Parliament.

Paetongtarn Shinawatra belongs to the Pheu Thai Party, which has dominated Thailand’s politics for decades. However, the party failed to secure a majority in the 2023 parliamentary election. 

Paetongtarn Shinawatra is the third member of the Shinawatra clan to become the Prime Minister of Thailand.

Political Turmoil in Thailand 

Thailand is a constitutional monarchy but has seen regular military coups. Ms Paetongtarn has to deal with a failing economy and avoid military coups and Court intervention, which has ousted four previous governments led by her party.

The Constitutional Court, which supports Thailand’s monarch, has dismissed the government in Thailand, which is seen as unfavourable to the King.

Ms Paetongtarn's father, the billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra, became prime minister in 2001, but in  2006, during his second term, he was deposed by a military coup.

He went into exile and returned to Thailand last year after 15 years.

Mr Thaksin Shinwatara’s sister, Ms Yingluck Shinwatra, won a landslide in the 2011 election. However, the courts disqualified her, and a second military coup ousted her government. She is now living in exile.

In the 2023 Parliamentary election, the Move Forward Party emerged as the single largest party, but the military-appointed senate, the upper house of Thailand’s Parliament, prevented it from forming the government.

Later, the Constitutional Court of Thailand declared the Move Forward party illegal and banned 11 leaders from politics for 11 years.

After the Move Forward Party was banned, the Pheu Thai Party, led by Srettha Thavisin, formed the government, which the Constitutional Court again ousted.

Capital of Thailand: Bangkok 

Currency of Thailand: Baht