Srettha Thavisin, the 60-year-old real estate tycoon endorsed by the Thai king after winning enough parliamentary support to become prime minister, has no experience in government and is not an elected MP.
Nor did the prominent businessman’s party, Pheu Thai, come first in May’s election. The reformist pro-democracy Move Forward party instead won the most votes and seats.
Srettha’s new job is the result of a controversial alliance between Pheu Thai and its longstanding enemies from the military side. The deal coincided with the return to Thailand after more than 15 years in exile of the former prime minister and billionaire businessman Thaksin Shinawatra, who is backing Pheu Thai.
Srettha was born into an elite family in Bangkok, studied economics at the University of Massachusetts and gained an MBA at Claremont Graduate University in the US. He worked for Procter & Gamble in Thailand before helping found a company that became Sansiri, one of the country’s biggest real estate developers. He resigned from his role as the company’s chief executive and president before running as one of Pheu Thai’s prime ministerial candidates. He is married to Pakpilai Thavisin, a doctor and expert in anti-ageing medicine, with whom he has three children.
The party has touted his industry experience, presenting him as someone who can boost the economy as it recovers from the pandemic. However, he has faced questions over his past business dealings, including allegations that he helped a group of landowners evade a large tax bill. Srettha has denied any wrongdoing.
Srettha has long been considered close to the Shinawatra family, including Thaksin and his sister, the former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra. He opposed the movement that led to the ousting of Yingluck, and during election campaigning described being summoned by the military junta after the 2014 coup. “There was a soldier holding an M16 standing behind me. I was threatened,” he recalled. “I had to ask their permission every time I went abroad … They knew every movement, what I was doing, where I was.”
In the year after the coup, more than 750 people, many of them affiliated with Pheu Thai, as well as activists and journalists, were summoned by the junta.
Srettha has spoken in support of LGBT rights and has often shared his views on economic issues on social media. During the crackdowns on monarchy reform protesters in 2020, he urged Unicef to call on the government not to use violence against young demonstrators.
Srettha has previously said he will not seek to change the lese-majesty law, under which criticising the monarchy can lead to a jail term of up to 15 years in prison.
Srettha generally avoided the leadership debates during election campaigning, and analysts say it was ultimately the Shinawatra brand, which still has strong support in areas of the north and north-east, that enabled his party to be runner-up in May’s election.
Srettha has said he will focus on improving people’s livelihoods. “I will try my best to fulfil my duties … I will lift up the wellbeing of all Thai people,” he said on Tuesday.
On the social media site X, previously known as Twitter, many voiced their opposition to his leadership. “NotMyPM” trended, and people shared images of Pita Limjaroenrat, the leader of Move Forward.
