From billionaire heiress to Thailand’s youngest Prime Minister: What to know about Paetongtarn Shinawatra?

Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra. Photo from Paetongtarn’s Instagram

Thailand’s Parliament elected Paetongtarn Shinawatra as the country’s Prime Minister on Friday, making her the third member of her family to hold this office, succeeding her father Thaksin and her aunt Yingluck, as reported by Time magazine. Additionally, at 37, she is the country’s youngest Prime Minister ever and the second woman to assume this role, following in the footsteps of Yingluck.

Her appointment was precipitated by the removal of the previous Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin on Wednesday, following a court ruling related to the appointment of a jailed Cabinet member over an alleged bribery attempt, according to the Associated Press.

Known affectionately as “Ing,” Paetongtarn is Thaksin’s youngest child. Thaksin, a 75-year-old billionaire with a Forbes-estimated net worth of US$2.1 billion, was Thailand’s Prime Minister from 2001 to 2006 before being ousted in a military coup.

Paetongtarn’s exposure to politics began at the age of eight when she accompanied her father on his initial government role as foreign minister.

“When I was eight-years-old, my father entered politics,” she recalled in a March speech, as per Reuters. “Since that day, my life has also been intertwined with politics.”

She then pursued her studies in political science at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand.

Despite her elite background, she worked part-time at McDonald’s in 2004, where her father visited.

At 20, she experienced the Thai army’s coup against her father, spending time in a safe house while military tanks patrolled the streets of Bangkok, as reported by The New York Times.

“At times, I would see pictures of my father pinned to the wall, crossed out and drawn on,” she said in her March speech.

“At the age of 20, being surrounded by hate was very difficult to overcome.”

Two years after the coup, she witnessed her father leaving Thailand to escape a corruption conviction he claimed was politically motivated.

She later earned a master’s degree in international hotel management from the University of Surrey, U.K., and led a family-run hotel management company, which she described as her “passion” in a March 2022 interview, as reported by The New York Times.

“But after having a child, my thinking changed,” she said. “I want to make the country livable for my children.”

Paetongtarn married Pidok Sooksawas, a commercial pilot, in 2019. The couple has two children, born in 2021 and 2023, respectively.

She then entered politics, joining the populist Pheu Thai party and emerging as a prime ministerial candidate last year, during the final trimester of her second pregnancy. She maintains a close relationship with her father Thaksin, consulting him on nearly all aspects of her life, including her political endeavors, as she told Time magazine in an interview in April last year.

“He’s only worried that I’m pregnant and he doesn’t want me to stress out too much,” she said.

Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and her father Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand’s former Prime Minister. Photo from Paetongtarn’s Instagram

Last October, Paetongtarn was appointed as the leader of the Pheu Thai party.

“Pheu Thai will continue with its important mission in improving people’s livelihood,” she declared before hundreds of party members.

In addition to her political role, Paetongtarn is a prominent businesswoman, holding a 28.5% stake in the publicly traded property firm SC Asset Corp. Pcl, valued at approximately 5.2 billion baht (US$152 million), as per Bloomberg. Before taking the post of Prime Minister, she must resign from her business positions and comply with share ownership regulations under Thai law.

Looking ahead, her government, supported by a victorious Pheu Thai, plans to maintain continuity with few deviations from previous policies. Her administration will focus on stimulating growth, addressing the soaring cost of living, and managing the country’s near-record household debt. She advocates for lower interest rates and has been vocal about the central bank’s autonomy being an obstacle to economic resolution.

A crucial challenge for her administration will be the potential reevaluation of a US$14 billion digital wallet cash handout program, a key component of the Pheu Thai’s economic strategy previously championed by Srettha. Citing local media news outlets, Yahoo! News reported that Paetongtarn has expressed intentions to review the program upon taking office.

“The country has to move ahead,” she told reporters after winning Pheu Thai’s nomination, as per Reuters.

“We are determined, together and we will push the country forward.”