Thailand’s parliament on Tuesday voted for real estate tycoon Srettha Thavisin to be the country’s next prime minister, bringing an end to three months of political deadlock.
Thailand’s parliament on Tuesday voted for real estate tycoon Srettha Thavisin to be the country’s next prime minister, bringing an end to three months of political deadlock.
Srettha, 60, was the sole candidate put forward by the populist Pheu Thai Party and received 482 votes out of a possible 747 in Thailand’s bicameral parliament.
His election comes the same day that Pheu Thai founder and divisive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra returned to the country after more than 15 years in self-imposed exile.
A political newbie with a track record in business, Srettha joined Pheu Thai in 2022 before being named one of the party’s three prime ministerial candidates ahead of the election in May.
That poll was won by a popular progressive party, Move Forward, which had proposed radical reforms to capitalize on years of rising anger with how Thailand is governed. However, its efforts to form a government were later stymied by the kingdom’s political elites.
Pheu Thai came second but led efforts to form a new alliance after parliament blocked Move Forward’s leader from becoming prime minister over the party’s pledge to amend Thailand’s strict royal defamation laws, known as Article 112.
In a bid to secure the needed votes, Pheu Thai struck a deal with its former military rivals and in doing so reneged on a promise that it would not work with pro-military parties.
