Thailand's Parliament made history Friday by electing Paetongtarn Shinawatra, a political newcomer, as the nation's youngest prime minister. This comes just a day after she was thrust into the spotlight amid a fierce power struggle between the country’s entrenched elites.
At 37, the daughter of controversial political titan Thaksin Shinawatra secured a decisive victory in the parliamentary vote. Now, she faces a trial by fire, stepping into the role just two days after her ally, Srettha Thavisin, was ousted as premier by a judiciary that has played a pivotal role in Thailand's two decades of political upheaval.
At stake for Paetongtarn could be the legacy and political future of the billionaire Shinawatra family, whose once unstoppable populist juggernaut suffered its first election defeat in over two decades last year and had to make a deal with its bitter enemies in the military to form a government.
She will become Thailand's second female prime minister and the third Shinawatra to take the top job after aunt Yingluck Shinawatra and father Thaksin, the country's most influential and polarizing politician.
Paetongtarn won easily with 319 votes or nearly two-thirds of the House. She was not present in parliament and watched the vote from her Pheu Thai Party headquarters.
Her first public comment on the win was an Instagram post of her lunch – chicken rice – with the caption: "The first meal after listening to the vote."
Paetongtarn has never served in government, and the decision to put her in play is a roll of the dice for her Pheu Thai and its 75-year-old figurehead, Thaksin.
She will immediately face challenges on multiple fronts, with the economy floundering, competition from a rival party growing, and Pheu Thai's popularity dwindling, having yet to deliver on its flagship cash handout program worth 500 billion baht ($14.25 billion).
"The Shinawatras' gambit here is risky," said Nattabhorn Buamahakul, managing partner at government affairs consultancy Vero Advocacy. "It puts Thaksin's daughter in the crosshairs and in a vulnerable position."
The fall of Srettha after less than a year in office will be a stark reminder of the kind of hostility Paetongtarn could face, with Thailand trapped in a tumultuous cycle of coups and court rulings that have disbanded political parties and toppled multiple governments and prime ministers.
The Shinawatras and their business allies have borne the brunt of the crisis, which pits parties with mass appeal against a powerful nexus of conservatives, old-money families, and royalist generals with deep connections in key institutions.
Nine days ago, the same court that dismissed Srettha over a Cabinet appointment also dissolved the anti-establishment Move Forward Party—the 2023 election winner—over a campaign to amend a law against insulting the crown, which it said risked undermining the constitutional monarchy.
The hugely popular opposition, Pheu Thai's biggest challenger, has since regrouped under a new vehicle, People's Party.
The upheaval in the past few days also indicates a breakdown in a fragile truce struck between Thaksin and his rivals in the establishment and military old guard, which had enabled the tycoon’s dramatic return from 15 years of self-exile in 2023 and ally Srettha to become premier the same day.
Thaksin's gamble on Paetongtarn at such a critical juncture surprised many analysts, who expected him to delay his dynasty and avoid exposing his daughter to the type of battles that led to the downfall of himself and his sister Yingluck, who both fled overseas to avoid jail after their governments were ousted by the military.
"This is a big bet for Thaksin. There is a possibility for her to fail, and that is a big risk for the entire Shinawatra dynasty," said Titipol Phakdeewanich, a political scientist at Ubon Ratchathani University. "If she can't bring the economy back and bring the party back, then it could be the end because the People's Party is gaining more momentum after their dissolution."
