Four Prime Ministers from One Family in 20 Years: The Thaksin Family, which was "overthrown" several times, makes a comeback
2024-08-16
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On August 16, local time, Thailand's new prime minister was elected. She is Bedondan Shinawatra, the daughter of former Prime Minister Thaksin.
In 20 years, four prime ministers came from Thaksin's family.
"Four Prime Ministers from One Family", what is the existence of the Thaksin family in Thailand? The Thaksin family, which has been "overturned" several times in political turmoil, has made a comeback this time......
The youngest Prime Minister of Thailand
According to CCTV News, on August 16, local time, the House of Representatives of the Thai Parliament held a meeting to vote on the candidate for prime minister. Prime Minister candidate and Pheu Thai Party leader Pathondan Shinawatra won the support of more than half of the members of the House of Representatives and was elected as the new prime minister. Pathondan will become the second female prime minister in Thai history and will also be the youngest prime minister.
On August 16, 2024, local time, the lower house of the Thai parliament held a meeting to vote on the candidate for prime minister. Pheu Thai Party leader Padangdan Shinawatra won more than half of the votes and was elected as the new prime minister of Thailand. Image source: Visual China
Born in 1986, Bettongdan is the youngest daughter of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. During her secondary school years, she attended St. Joseph's Convent School in Bangkok and Maet Dei High School, a famous aristocratic girls' school in Thailand. In 2008, Bettongdan graduated from the Faculty of Political Science at Chulalongkorn University with a bachelor's degree in political science, sociology and anthropology.
Previously known as Thailand's "first lady", Pattondan was mainly a shareholder in the family business before entering politics. Pattondan began to enter politics in 2021, became the leader of the Thaksin-affiliated Pheu Thai Party in March 2022, and made a high-profile appearance in the following months.
Bettongdan inherited her father's charm. As a new generation politician, she has 600,000 followers on social media. Bettongdan knows how to use the public's support for her father to attract fans. Her father Thaksin often appears on her social media. She made it clear that she is proud of her father and that she will always be his "little girl".
In a 2022 poll testing the popularity of prime ministerial candidates, Bedon was significantly ahead of all rivals.
In March 2023, Bettongdan announced her candidacy for the Thai prime ministerial election. At that time, she was already eight months pregnant, and she still made a strong appearance with her eight-month pregnant belly. In May, the Thai general election was launched, and Bettongdan returned to the campaign two weeks after giving birth.
Beidongdan Shinawatra Photo source: Visual China
In previous rallies, Bettongdan had put forward the slogan "dare to think, can do, and serve the people wholeheartedly". Time magazine once said, "Bettongdan has ambitious ideas such as revitalizing Thailand's strength and restoring its status as the second largest economy in Southeast Asia."
According to Time magazine, the Pheu Thai Party had previously made promises to increase the daily minimum wage, expand medical insurance coverage, and subsidize public transportation; Bedondan also boldly promised to build high-speed railways and water storage infrastructure to protect farmers from cyclical droughts and floods.
The Straits Times believes that Bedon may continue the policies pursued by the Setia government, focusing on boosting economic growth through looser fiscal policies and addressing issues such as high living costs.
After accepting the nomination of the prime ministerial candidate from the Pheu Thai Party and various coalition parties, Bedondan said that he was ready to accept the position, "I will do my best to lead the country out of the economic crisis."
The Thaksin family is known as the "prime minister's family"
Before Bedondan was elected prime minister, the Thaksin family had produced three prime ministers, making it a "family of prime ministers."
Bedondan's father, Thaksin Shinawatra, served as prime minister from 2001 to 2006.
Thaksin was born in Chiang Mai, Thailand in 1949. His ancestral home is Fengshun County, Meizhou, Guangdong. He is a fourth-generation Thai-Chinese and was an entrepreneur before entering politics. In 1994, as a "telecom tycoon" in the business world, Thaksin began to enter politics as Thailand's richest man. With strong financial resources and connections, Thaksin's positions rose from foreign minister to deputy prime minister, and finally won the position of prime minister in the 2001 Thai general election.
Thaksin began serving as Prime Minister of Thailand in 2001. In February 2005, Thaksin won more than half of the support in the House of Representatives, becoming the first Thai Prime Minister to be re-elected.
But the good times did not last long. On September 19, 2006, the Thai military launched a coup. Thaksin was accused of corruption, bribery and abuse of power, and was forced to step down and go into exile abroad. After returning to Thailand briefly in 2008, he was sentenced for suspected corruption and later left Thailand on bail. He lived in exile abroad for about 15 years. On February 18, 2024, Thaksin, the 74-year-old former Thai Prime Minister who is still serving his sentence, was released on parole.
Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra Image source: Visual China
Patondan's uncle, Somchai, briefly served as prime minister in 2008.
When Thaksin was prime minister, his brother-in-law, lawyer Somchai, also entered the cabinet and served as deputy minister of justice. After Thaksin stepped down, Somchai became the member of the Thaksin family who rushed to the forefront of politics. He served as deputy prime minister and education minister in the Samak government (January 2008 to September 2008) in February 2008, and then served as prime minister and defense minister from September to December 2008. However, in December of that year, the Thai Constitutional Court ruled that Somchai was banned from participating in politics for five years due to his involvement in a bribery case.
Yingluck's profile picture Source: Visual China
Bedondan's aunt Yingluck served as prime minister from 2011 to 2014.
Yingluck is the youngest sister of Thaksin, who is 18 years younger than her. Before entering politics, Yingluck had been a senior executive of Thaksin's family business. Even when her brother Thaksin was overthrown by a military coup, Yingluck declined the invitation of the Pheu Thai Party and wanted to focus on business. However, after a long talk with Thaksin in Dubai, UAE, Yingluck changed her attitude.
In July 2011, Thailand held a parliamentary election. Yingluck led the Pheu Thai Party to win 265 seats in the lower house of parliament and was given the right to form a cabinet. She also became the first female prime minister in Thai history. However, during her tenure, she promoted an amnesty bill, which was accused of clearing obstacles for Thaksin to return to the country and caused controversy. The rice procurement project she strongly promoted became the fuse for her later involvement in a malfeasance case. In the end, amid street protests and judicial trials launched by the opposition, Yingluck was dismissed in May 2014 and fled abroad in August 2017.
Thaksin family makes comeback
With four people elected as prime ministers in 20 years, it can be seen that the Thaksin family has become a very influential family in Thailand.
The Thaksin family's surname is Shinawatra, and it should be called the Shinawatra family, but more people are used to calling it the Thaksin family. They were originally Hakka people named Qiu from Guangdong, and immigrated to Chiang Mai, Thailand in the 19th century. According to Thai law, Chinese who settled in Thailand can change their surnames to Thai surnames after three generations, so the Qiu family chose the Thai surname "Sinawa", which means "doing good things in accordance with the rules."
When the family name was changed, the Thaksin family had already become a well-known business tycoon in Thailand. When Bettongdan was born, Thaksin's business empire was in a period of rapid expansion. By the mid-1990s, the Thaksin family had almost monopolized Thailand's TV satellite antenna and mobile phone industries. In addition to the telecommunications business, the Thaksin family also involved in hotels, real estate and other fields, building a huge business empire.
The Thaksin family initially gained influence in the political arena through family marriages. Thaksin led the Thaksin family to become a "prominent family". With the strong support of the middle and lower classes in northern Thailand, the Pheu Thai Party (formerly known as the "Thai Rak Thai Party") led by the family still became a very important and decisive force in Thai politics.
The rapid rise of Thaksin and the Thai Rak Thai Party to power was largely due to the support of Thai farmers and the lower middle class in cities. Although Thaksin is a billionaire, his policies advocate "downward tilt" and he has introduced policies such as universal health insurance, low-interest loans, and the "one district, one product" plan to promote local economic development. In addition, his people-friendly performance and vigorous style of work have won him a lot of public support in a short period of time. His support rate in rural areas in northern and northeastern Thailand is as high as 70%.
Bei Dongdan and his father Thaksin. Photo source: Mass News
Although Thaksin's family has produced three prime ministers before, from Thaksin to Yingluck, almost all of them could not escape the fate of stepping down.
In the turbulent Thai politics, all leaders who lost power in the coup have faded out of politics. Thaksin's family has also been "overturned" several times in the political turmoil. Thaksin himself has been in exile abroad for 15 years and only returned to the country last year, but he has always been regarded as a "warrior" and a highly influential politician.
The Thaksin family still has a large number of die-hard supporters in Thailand, who are mainly from the lower classes in cities and rural areas. This is mainly due to the achievements made by Thaksin when he was in power and the political legacy he left behind.
During his tenure as prime minister, Thaksin led Thailand out of the financial crisis and achieved economic development. His policies such as universal health insurance and public utility subsidies were also widely welcomed by the public.
The reason why Bei Dongdan had a smooth political career can be said to be largely due to his inheritance of his family's reputation and his father's political achievements.
However, Bettongdan does not rely entirely on her family's capital. She is also very hardworking and has a lot of energy and charm. During the general election last year, Bettongdan took the lead and frequently appeared in various political activities and political propaganda rallies, including participating in the Bangkok mayoral election and canvassing for Pheu Thai Party candidates. At that time, she put forward the campaign slogan of the Pheu Thai Party - "Think boldly, act smartly, for all Thais". Bettongdan promised to create a new era of social equality and help the poor in Thailand, especially farmers, get out of their predicament.
At the same time, Thailand's economic recovery after the epidemic was slow, far behind many other ASEAN countries. When Setth was in power, he also caused public dissatisfaction due to the slow implementation of economic policies.
After being nominated as the prime minister candidate, Patondan issued a statement saying that the ruling coalition led by the Pheu Thai Party will help Thailand cope with the economic crisis. Public opinion believes that how to boost the economy and regain public trust will be a major challenge for the new government.
"She may be attacked." Titipol Pakdivani, a political scientist at Ubon Ratchathani Rajabhat University, said that Patondan faces a higher risk. If the Pheu Thai Party cannot make any contribution, then the political career of the Thaksin family may come to an end.
Is the 37-year-old Bei Dongdan ready to take on the heavy responsibility and risks? Can he avoid the "curse" and govern smoothly in the future? We will have to wait and see...
Comprehensive sources: CCTV News, Shangguan News, Red Star News, Jimu News, Qilu Evening News, Dazhong News, Yangcheng Evening News
