Anutin Charnvirakul has been selected as Thailand’s next Prime Minister, after gaining the support of the majority of lawmakers in parliament.
Anutin, leader of the Bhumjaithai party, won a total of 311 votes, far exceeding the 247 required majority from the House of Representative’s 492 active members.
He and his government are expected to take office in a few days after obtaining a formal appointment from King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
He achieved a thumping victory over Chaikasem Nitisiri, 77, a veteran lawyer and the candidate put forward by the Pheu Thai party.
Anutin succeeds Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who was dismissed by court order as Prime Minister last week after being found guilty of ethics violations over a politically compromising phone call with neighboring Cambodia’s President, Hun Sen.
Anutin, a 58-year-old tycoon turned politician is considered a conservative, though he made a name for himself for leading a campaign to decriminalise cannabis.
He was voted in after a chaotic scramble by parties to gain enough support to replace the ousted Paetongtarn Shinawatra.
Paetongtarn’s ouster made her the fourth member of her family to be removed from office before reaching the end of her term. The ruling prompted a race between Pheu Thai and Anutin’s Bhumjaithai party to fill the position.
Anutin comes from a family that owns one of Thailand’s biggest construction companies, which built Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport, as well as parliament itself.
He has served as Deputy Prime Minister, Interior Minister and Health Minister’, during which time he pushed through cannabis legalisation. The legal changes were criticised for being rushed through without adequate safeguards, leading to an explosion of dispensaries and recreational use across Thailand, though Anutin says the policy was always focused on medical use.
He secured enough votes to become Prime Minister after promising the pro-reform People’s party that, were it to lend its support, he would hold an election in four months, and commit to changing Thailand’s constitution, possibly through holding a referendum.
The People’s party, formerly the Move Forward party, has little in common with Bhumjaithai, a conservative royalist party, but has said that it believes this arrangement is the quickest way to bring about an election and reform Thailand’s system to make it more democratic. It will not join Anutin’s government.
However, some of the supporters of the People’s party have questioned whether Anutin can be trusted to stick to his promises.
Latest Setback For Thaksin Shinawatra
Friday’s vote is the latest setback for Thaksin Shinawatra, Paetongtarn’s billionaire father and another former leader, whose popularity and political clout have faded since his return from 15 years in self-imposed exile in 2023.
He returned from exile after striking a controversial deal with his old enemies in the conservative establishment. The arrangement was seen by many as a betrayal of his supporters and has since fallen apart as his supporter base has dwindled and his legal troubles mounted.
A day ahead of the vote to select the new Prime Minister, Thaksin made a surprise departure from Thailand to Dubai, where he lived during his self-imposed exile starting in 2008.
His travel took place days before a court ruling over a handling of his return in 2023 that could open him up to a new prison sentence.
The move prompted speculation that he was fleeing again, although Thaksin said he would return to Thailand in a few days.
In a post on X, Thaksin said that he was in Dubai for a medical checkup and to see old friends. “I will be back in Thailand by September 8 to personally attend court on the 9th,” he said.
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