You turn to us for voices you won't hear anywhere else.

Sign up for Democracy Now!'s Daily Digest to get our latest headlines and stories delivered to your inbox every day.

Paetongtarn Shinawatra Named Thai Prime Minister

HeadlineAug 16, 2024

Thailand’s parliament has selected Paetongtarn Shinawatra as prime minister, days after Thailand’s Constitutional Court removed the former Thai leader over alleged ethics violations. At 37 years old, Paetongtarn is the youngest person to lead Thailand and the fourth member of the Shinawatra family selected as prime minister. Her father, billionaire tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra, spent 15 years in exile after his ouster in a military coup in 2006; he returned to Thailand last year.

Last week, Thailand’s Constitutional Court disbanded the progressive Move Forward opposition party, saying it broke laws that bar public criticism of Thailand’s royal family. The party had been critical of Thailand’s powerful military, as well as unelected and unaccountable institutions including the Thai Senate and Constitutional Court.

Topics:
The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top