Who are the contenders to be Thailand’s next prime minister?

BANGKOK, Thailand – Thailand will hold a general election on Sunday, February 8, in a three-way contest of major parties to decide the leader of the Southeast Asian nation over the next four years.

Here are contenders from among 93 eligible names parties have submitted as potential candidates for prime minister.

Anutin Charnvirakul

The caretaker prime minister and leader of the Bhumjaithai Party, Anutin, 59, secured the top post in September last year by outmaneuvering the ruling Pheu Thai party just hours after a court sacked then-premier Paetongtarn Shinawatra.

His frenetic lobbying for support from Paetongtarn’s coalition partners and the opposition underlines his credentials as a seasoned political dealmaker willing to work with any party to get in government.

Bhumjaithai was not a contender in the 2023 and 2019 elections, taking 71 and 51 seats respectively, but it was enough to win the staunch royalist key positions such as interior and health minister and deputy prime minister.

In a volatile political climate fraught with bitter rivalries, Anutin has been a rare bridge between warring political elites, giving him significant pull across party lines.

Though considered a conservative, he famously led a successful campaign to decriminalise cannabis in Thailand.

Bhumjaithai’s short stint as ruling party and a slew of defections from other parties could give the former construction tycoon Anutin a stronger hand this time.

Staying on as prime minister will depend on his bargaining power as much as it will the ballot box.

Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut

Natthaphong, 38, is a former businessman and software engineer who ran a cloud service firm after university.

He was elected to parliament in 2019 with the progressive Future Forward Party, a forerunner for the Move Forward Party and its latest incarnation, People’s Party.

The fan of video games played a crucial role in overseeing the online strategy of his parties, with Move Forward’s mastery of social media campaigning key to its 2023 election victory.

After a court dissolved Move Forward in August 2024 and banned its top leaders for planning to amend a law that protects the monarchy from criticism, Natthaphong was unveiled as leader of its successor People’s Party before becoming Thailand’s youngest Leader of the Opposition in parliament.

Yodchanan Wongsawat

Yodchanan, 46, is the son of former prime minister Somchai Wongsawat and part of the billionaire Shinawatra clan, the founders of the Pheu Thai party, and the dominant force in Thai politics for much of the last 25 years.

An engineer by training, Yodchanan spent most of his adult life in academia and is a professor in biomedical engineering at Bangkok’s Mahidol University.

A political novice, his only government role has been as adviser on technology policies to the last Pheu Thai-led administration. He has big shoes to fill.

In a recent Reuters interview, he described himself as a very small guy, “on the shoulder of a giant,” referring to his uncle, the polarising, currently jailed tycoon and former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

His aunt is ex-premier Yingluck Shinawatra. Both were toppled in military coups.

Yodchanan’s cousin Paetongtarn Shinawatra was also prime minister and like his father, she was removed from power by a Constitutional Court verdict, as were two other premiers from outside the family. In all, six prime ministers under Pheu Thai or its previous incarnations were ousted.

If Yodchanan gets the top job, history would suggest it may not end well.

Sihasak Phuangketkeow

Career diplomat Sihasak, 67, is Thailand’s foreign minister on his first foray into politics with the Bhumjaithai Party in its effort to recruit expertise and technocrats.

A former Thai ambassador to Japan, France and the United Nations in Geneva, Sihasak is well known in Southeast Asia and joins Anutin as the second of Bhumjaithai’s two eligible candidates for premier.

Sirikanya Tansakun

Srikanya, 44, is deputy leader of the People’s Party, a role she held with Move Forward. She had initially been tipped to become leader of the progressive movement when Move Forward was disbanded.

Educated in Thailand and France and holder of two master’s degrees, Srikanya was Move Forward’s finance minister-designate in 2023 before its attempt to form a government was blocked.

Abhisit Vejjajiva

Abhisit, 61, was prime minister from 2008 to 2011 during major bouts of political violence and came to office only after a court removed two other premiers.

Media-savvy and a skilled orator, Abhisit was born and brought up in Britain, studying at Eton College and Oxford University, and holds Thai and British nationality.

Once backed by Thailand’s conservative establishment, Abhisit’s Democrat Party has been in decline but seeks to reinvent itself and could play an important role in government formation.

He has recently been a more neutral figure in politics and a return as prime minister should not be ruled out if crisis and deadlock ensue.

Veerayooth Kanchoochat

Veerayooth, 46, has a doctorate from Britain’s Cambridge University and lectured in Japan before becoming an economic adviser to Move Forward. He is the third candidate of the People’s Party, a backup if Natthaphong and Sirikanya are banned by a court, as happened to its last two leaders.

They are among 44 former Move Forward lawmakers being investigated on accusations of ethics breaches for attempting to amend the royal insult law in 2021. If that case goes to the Supreme Court, they could face long political bans. – Rappler.com