Paetongtarn Shinawatra on Wednesday hailed her newborn son as her “secret power” and said she is ready to return to the election campaign trail for the Pheu Thai Party as soon as possible.
“I’m very ready to return to the campaign,” she told reporters at Praram 9 Hospital in Bangkok, where she delivered a baby boy on Monday. “We need to make the landslide happen for Pheu Thai” in the May 14 vote, she said.
The 36-year-old daughter of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra has been first or second in surveys of voters’ preferred choice of prime minister and Pheu Thai — the latest incarnation of the movement founded by her father — is leading most opinion polls.
“I believe that good things come with babies, so this is a blessing for my family,” she told reporters.
“My children are my secret power to work and to live life.”
A heavily pregnant Ms Paetongtarn was a near-constant presence at campaign rallies in the searing heat until just a week before giving birth.
The new arrival, named Phruethasin Suksawat and nicknamed “Thasin” in honour of her father, is the second for Ms Paetongtarn and her husband Pitaka Suksawat, a commercial pilot. The couple married in March 2019 and already have a girl.
She described her emotions on delivering him safely, after his heart rate fell during labour.
“Once I heard his cry, my tears fell. I felt relief that he was safe. I am glad he is safe,” she said.
The news on the campaign front was less joyful, however, as the latest National Institute of Development Administration (Nida) poll showed Ms Paetongtarn falling behind Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat for the first time among top choices for prime minister.
The nationwide survey of 2,500 people showed Pita was the pick of 35.4% of decided voters compared to 29.2% for Pheu Thai’s first prime ministerial candidate.
In party preferences, Pheu Thai still leads Move Forward by 38% to 34%, but the gap is narrowing.
Asked about a Move Forward alliance, Ms Paetongtarn said Pheu Thai would join “with parties that support our policies” and reiterated ruled out military-backed rivals.
Pheu Thai won the most seats at the last poll in 2019, but coup leader Prayut Chan-o-Cha stitched together a coalition — and the support of 249 military-appointed senators — to hold on to power.
The latest addition to the Shinawatra family has increased speculation about a possible return to Thailand by Thaksin, who fled the country in 2008 before being sentenced on corruption charges he says are politically motivated.
Ms Paetongtarn said her father, 73, wants to return to Thailand but not to get involved in politics again.
“He always says he wants to return home to raise his grandchildren. He never said he wants to return home to be PM,” she said.
