Photo: From L, Thaksin Shinawatra, Chada Thaised, Attakorn Sirilatthayakorn and Thammanat Prompao
Many Thai politicians see politics as a family business. If it becomes politically or legally risky to accept a ministerial post themselves, they hand the seat to close relatives – usually either an heir, sibling, or even a parent.
Critics argue that government ministers are often appointed due to their family connections rather than their expertise or experience. They point to the new Cabinet led by Paetongtarn Shinawatra as the latest example of such nepotism.
Court verdict a deterrent?
When the ministerial line-up was announced last week, the media immediately called it the “Cabinet of heirs and descendants”, noting that many of the appointees – including the new prime minister – are members of political dynasties.
Other members of the new Cabinet are family members of ex-politicians who retain influence in coalition parties.
Strict screening prevented several politicians with questionable backgrounds from joining Paetongtarn’s Cabinet, but they still managed to secure the seats for their relatives through the quota system practised in Thai politics.
The new PM’s cautious approach followed last month’s Constitutional Court verdict to remove her predecessor, Srettha Thavisin, from office for appointing ex-convict Pichit Chuenban as a Cabinet member.
Prime Minister’s Office Minister Chusak Sirinil, a legal expert from the ruling Pheu Thai Party, admitted that the court’s strict interpretation of ethics in Srettha’s case had led to the appointment of ethically untainted political heirs in the current Cabinet.
The PM and her father
A 38-year-old political debutant, Paetongtarn is the leader of Pheu Thai and the youngest of its three prime ministerial candidates.
Paetongtarn’s rise to prime minister has been attributed to her father Thaksin’s political clout in the ruling party.
The two-term former prime minister, whose government was overthrown in a military coup in September 2006, is regarded as Pheu Thai’s patriarch and de-facto leader.
Thaksin is banned by the Constitution from assuming any ministerial seat due to his prison record. However, analysts reckon he will be pulling the strings during his daughter’s premiership.
Just days after the House of Representatives elected his youngest daughter as Thailand’s 31st prime minister in mid-August, Thaksin outlined his vision for Thailand at a public event attended by business executives, politicians, and foreign diplomats.
Much of what he said is expected to become part of the new government’s policy statement to be announced before Parliament on September 12.
Among Thaksin’s suggestions for the new government were a negative income tax that would allow money transfers to low-income groups, legalisation of casinos, protectionist measures to shield small and medium-sized enterprises, construction of a land bridge link between the Andaman Sea and Gulf of Thailand, and reclamation of coastal areas in Bangkok and Samut Prakan.
Other heirs in the Cabinet
Sabeeda Thaised, 39, has been appointed deputy interior minister, taking the role held by her father Chada in Srettha’s Cabinet. Chada, a key figure in the coalition’s Bhumjaithai Party, was facing a possible ethics probe and stepped aside for his daughter to take the seat allocated to his party.
Akkara Prompow, a new deputy agriculture minister, is the younger brother of Thamanat Prompow, who served as agriculture minister in Srettha’s Cabinet.
Thamanat’s 1994 drug-smuggling conviction in Australia may have become a stumbling block in the new ethics clampdown, so the seat went to Akkara, a local politician from their native Phayao province.
Itthi Sirilatthayakorn, 70, was named the other deputy agriculture minister under the quota allocated to Thamanat’s faction, which defected from Palang Pracharath to join the Pheu Thai-led government, leaving the remainder of the former coalition party in the opposition.
Itthi’s son Atthakorn served in the same position during the last four months of Srettha’s Cabinet. Atthakorn, a Palang Pracharath MP in Thamanat’s faction, was supposed to get the seat, but nominating Atthakorn while his political affiliation status remains unclear would have been a political risk for him and other MPs in Thamanat’s faction.
Another political heir in the new Cabinet is PM’s Office Minister Jiraporn Sindhuprai, who at 37 is the youngest minister in the Paetongtarn government. Both of her parents are former Pheu Thai MPs.
Pheu Thai secretary-general Sorawong Thienthong, who has become the new tourism and sports minister, is the son of veteran politician Sanoh Thienthong, a long-time ally of the prime minister’s father.
