37-year-old billionaire becomes Thailand’s new prime minister”

Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the daughter of the former prime minister of Thailand, has been chosen as the country’s next leader after receiving the backing of a majority of lawmakers.

Ms Shinawatra, 37, is a billionaire heiress and daughter of Thaksin Shinawatra, who ruled the country from 2001 to 2006. She has never held an elected office before.

The Pheu Thai party selected Ms Shinawatra after a court sacked Prime Minister Srettha Thaksin for appointing a cabinet member with a criminal conviction.

Pheu Thai and its partners hold 314 seats in parliament, and Ms Shinawatra needed the backing of more than half of the current 493 lawmakers to become the PM.

Known in Thailand by her nickname Aw Ung Ing, Ms Shinawatra helped run the hotel arm of the family’s business empire before entering politics three years ago.

As the third and youngest child of Mr Thaksin, she has also built her public profile and maintained a near-constant presence on the campaign trail during the 2023 elections.

She graduated from Chulalongkorn University, one of Thailand’s top schools, and studied international hotel management at the University of Surrey in England.

Last year, Ms Shinawatra was later drafted into politics, joining the populist Pheu Thai party and becoming a front-running candidate for prime minister.

The campaign fell during the last trimester of her pregnancy with her second child.

“My passion is a hotel,” she said in an interview in March 2022. “But after having a child, my thinking changed,” she added. “I want to make the country livable for my children.”

Her father, Mr Thaksin, 75, founded the Pheu Thai party, which had consistently won elections in the country.

He was, however, removed in a coup but wielded influence even while living in exile to escape corruption charges.

Ms Shinawatra was 20 years old when she witnessed the Thai army coup against her father.