Paetongtarn Shinawatra becomes Thai prime minister after royal signoff

BANGKOK (AP) — Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of the divisive former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, became Thailand’s prime minister after receiving a royal letter of endorsement Sunday, two days after she was chosen by Parliament following a court order that removed her predecessor.

She replaces another leader from the same Pheu Thai Party, at the head of a coalition that includes military parties associated with the coup that deposed the party’s last government.

Paetongtarn is the third Shinawatra to hold the job, after her billionaire father and her aunt Yingluck Shinawatra. Both were removed from office and forced into exile in coups, although Thaksin returned to Thailand last year as Pheu Thai formed a government.

She received the letter of appointment in a ceremony at the party’s headquarters in Bangkok, attended by senior members of parties in the governing coalition and her father, who has no formal role but is widely seen de facto leader of Pheu Thai.

The father and daughter held hands as they walked in with beaming smiles. Both wore white civil servants’ uniforms, which are used for royal and state ceremonies.

Paetongtarn thanked the king, the Thai people and lawmakers, saying she will perform her duties “with an open mind,” and will “make every square inch of Thailand a space that allows Thai people to dare to dream, dare to create and dare to dictate their own future.”

Paetongtarn became Prime Minister days after the Constitutional Court removed Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, after less than a year in office. The court found him guilty of a serious ethical breach for appointing a Cabinet minister who had been jailed for contempt of court after an alleged attempt to bribe a judge.

Paetongtarn is also Thailand’s second female prime minister after her aunt, and the country’s youngest leader at 37.

Speaking to reporters after the ceremony, Paetongtarn said she is determined to push forward key policies such as economic stimulus, improvement for universal healthcare and promoting cultural “soft power” on the global stage.

She did not initially mention Srettha’s signature proposal for a digital cash handout of 10,000 baht (about $275) to 50 million citizens to spend at local businesses in order to boost the economy.

The project has been criticized as an ineffective way to contribute to sustainable economic growth, and has faced several hurdles that include its sources of funding.

When pressed by reporters, Paetongtarn said she still has an intention to push forward a major economic stimulus for Thailand, but she will need to “continue to listen to opinions.”

She also said she will ask for her father for advice when she needs, but insisted that she would make her own decisions. “I am my own person. I have my own things and my own goals that I have to achieve in the future, but of course all the comments from him (have) value to me,” she said.

Pheu Thai is the latest in a string of populist parties affiliated with Thaksin, who was ousted in a 2006 military coup, which triggered nearly two decades of deep political divisions that pitted a mostly poor, rural majority in the north that supported Thaksin against royalists, the military and their urban backers.

Parties linked to Thaksin won the most seats in every national election from 2001 until 2023, when it lost to the more progressive Move Forward Party.

Pheu Thai was able to form a government after Move Forward was blocked by the military-appointed Senate, partnering with former rivals in what was widely interpreted as a political bargain with the conservative establishment to stop Move Forward from forming a government.

The same day, Thaksin returned from exile and briefly reported to prison to for an eight-year sentence on charges related to corruption and abuse of power. He was moved almost immediately from prison to the hospital on grounds of ill health, and about a week after that the king reduced his sentence to a single year. He was released on parole in February after spending six months serving time in the hospital.

Since his release, Thaksin has maintained a high profile traveling the country, making public appearances.

On Saturday, Thaksin’s lawyer Winyat Chatmontree posted on Facebook that Thaksin was among the convicts granted a royal amnesty by the king on the occasion of his birthday in late July. It took effect Sunday, which means Thaksin is free ahead of his original parole schedule.

However, the amnesty does not protect Thaksin from an ongoing case for defaming the monarchy, which was indicted in June after being originally filed in 2016. It has been seen by some analysts as a warning from Thaksin’s enemies that he should tone down his political activities.

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An earlier version of this story incorrectly wrote that Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra arrived at the ceremony in the same car with her father, Thaksin Shinawatra. In fact, Thaksin arrived after Paetongtarn.