BANGKOK: Thailand’s Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been dismissed as prime minister, the fifth premier removed by the Constitutional Court in the space of 17 years. The following are the remaining candidates eligible to become prime minister, having been nominated by their parties prior to the 2023 election:
ANUTIN CHARNVIRAKUL
Former deputy prime minister and interior minister Anutin, 58, is leader of the Bhumjaithai Party that was the second-largest member in Paetongtarn’s coalition before it withdrew in June leaving the government with a razor-thin majority.
Anutin successfully delivered on a 2019 campaign promise to decriminalise and promote medical cannabis. However, that led to a rise in recreational use and an explosion of cannabis shops nationwide, upsetting conservatives and leading to government plans to recriminalise non-medical marijuana. He has famously worn a cannabis leaf pattern shirt, including while casting his ballot in the 2023 election.
As health minister during the COVID-19 pandemic, Anutin oversaw vaccine procurement, lockdowns, and treatment. He is credited with reopening of Thailand to foreign tourism, a key economic driver. At the onset of the pandemic, he dismissed the disease, calling it “just a flu”.
CHAIKASEM NITISIRI
Chaikasem, 77, is a lawyer and former attorney general with a long legal career in the bureaucracy before becoming justice minister in 2013, a post he held for less than a year until a coup.
