Thailand’s parliament has chosen Anutin Charnvirakul as its newest prime minister, the latest reversal of fortunes for the Thaksin Shinawatra-backed Pheu Thai Party.
3rd prime minister since 2023
Anutin Charnvirakul is Thailand’s latest PM, the third since general elections were last held in May 2023.
He comes to power as his former coalition partner, the Phue Thai Party, saw its own leader, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, ousted by the country’s powerful constitutional court.
Anutin’s Bhumjaithai Party, is the third largest in parliament, and he only managed to gain the position of PM after securing the backing of the People’s Party, the main opposition and parliament’s largest party.
While the PP are expected to hold no cabinet positions, Nikkei reports that they gave Anutin their backing after he promised to dissolve parliament and call fresh elections in four months.
"Cannabis king"
Anutin was the public health minister from 2019 to 2023, under the premiership of Prayuth Chan-o-cha.
In that role, he spearheaded the country’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, but is perhaps more well-known for his advocacy of marijuana legalisation.
The Financial Times notes that he has been nicknamed by some as the “cannabis king” due to his support for the drug’s decriminalisation, although in recent years there have been moves to walkback those efforts.
New elections
With his victory, a countdown to new elections has begun.
The party of the former PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Pheu Thai, will likely experience the fallout of the leaking of her phone call with Cambodian former PM Hun Sen, which came as Thai and Cambodian troops were clashing along their border.
Those clashes nearly led to war, averted only by a ceasefire brokered by this year's Asean chairman Malaysia.
Turnabout
The People’s Party, formerly the Move Forward Party (MFP) before the Constitutional Court dissolved it, surprised Pheu Thai at the last election, unexpectedly winning a majority but ultimately proving unable to form a government.
Pheu Thai initially was part of the MFP’s coalition, but eventually abandoned them to form a government with the conservative Bhumjaithai Party.
The PP have put ideological differences aside in the short term, it seems, with Khaosod English quoting their leader, Natthapong Reangpanawut, warning his party members to put party before self.
Bhumjaithai MPs in turn paid tribute to the PP’s decision, with one MP saying that Thailand’s people must “praise, laud, and admire” the PP for putting the good of the country before “clinging to the fact that they are the bigger party”.
