Thailand’s parliament has elected Paetongtarn Shinawatra as the youngest prime minister in the country’s history at the age of 37. Paetongtarn, the daughter of prominent and polarizing former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, secured 319 votes, nearly two-thirds of the parliamentary house. Her election follows closely on the heels of a tumultuous power struggle, with her ally, Srettha Thavisin, being ousted from office by a judiciary central to Thailand’s decades of intermittent political unrest.
The Shinawatra family has been a dominant force in Thai politics for over two decades, but they faced their first major defeat in last year’s election. Despite this, Paetongtarn’s rise to power marks the third time a member of her family has held the prime minister position, following her father Thaksin and aunt Yingluck Shinawatra.
However, her tenure begins under a cloud of challenges. The Thai economy is faltering, and her Pheu Thai Party’s popularity has waned due to unfulfilled promises, including a substantial cash handout program worth 500 billion baht ($14.25 billion). Furthermore, Paetongtarn steps into an increasingly hostile political environment, where coups and court rulings have repeatedly dissolved political parties and ousted leaders.
The situation was exacerbated when the court dissolved the 2023 election winner, the anti-establishment Move Forward Party, over its efforts to amend laws related to insulting the crown. This political volatility underscores the fragile truce between the Shinawatras and the military establishment, which allowed Thaksin’s return from 15 years of self-exile last year.
Paetongtarn’s sudden emergence at this critical juncture has raised concerns that she might face the same fate as her father and aunt, both of whom were forced into exile following military coups that ousted their governments.
