The first cabinet reshuffle under the Srettha Thavisin administration has officially been announced this morning (Sunday). Here are the new comers.
Pichai Chunhavajira – Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
A former chairman of Bangchak Corporation and former president of the Stock Exchange of Thailand, Pichai has been active as an advisor to Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin on business and the economy.
As the new Finance Minister, he will be expected to oversee and push for the success of the “digital wallet” scheme, a flagship policy much touted by the Pheu Thai-led government.
Pichit Chuenban – PM Office Minister
Phichit is best known as a lawyer who has worked closely with former prime ministers Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra. Phichit served six months in jail for contempt of court in 2008, over the so-called “snack box” bribery scandal. The case prompted the Law Society of Thailand to suspend his law license for five years.
After completing his jail term, Phichit became a party-list MP for the Pheu Thai party and was part of the attempt to enact a blanket amnesty bill. The move triggered massive protests, which were followed by the coup in 2014, which ousted the Yingluck Shinawatra administration.
Jiraporn Sindhuprai – PM Office Minister
Jiraporn, 36, is on the team of deputy leaders of the Pheu Thai party. She has been elected as the constituency MP for Roi-Et province in 2019 and 2023. Jiraporn is best known for her role as an MP in openly scrutinising the Prayut Chan-o-cha administration.
Her family also has a strong background in politics. Her father was a former constituency MP for Roi-Et and one of the core members of the United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship, better known as the “red-shirt” protesters.
Her mother and her younger sister were also constituency MPs for the same province for the Pheu Thai party.
Paopoom Rojanasakul – Deputy Minister of Finance
At the age of 41, Paopoom is among the new-generation members of Pheu Thai party. He has been the deputy secretary-general of the party for four terms, before being promoted to deputy party leader.
Paopoom has also been active as a member of the party’s economy and policy team, who has played a major role in the proposal for the digital wallet scheme.
Suchart Chomklin – Deputy Minister of Commerce
Suchart entered into politics as a member of Chonburi provincial administrative organisation before becoming an MP of Phalang Chol party in 2011, and later in 2019 as an MP of Palang Pracharath.
Last year, Suchart left Palang Pracharath to join United Thai Nation Party (Ruam Thai Sang Chart) and was chosen as a party-list MP.
Suchart was minister of labour during Prayut Chan-o-cha government.
Last year, he was questioned in parliament by a Move Forward party MP on his handling of the welfare and human trafficking issues of Thai workers who were employed by berry farms in Sweden and Finland. He later responded that over 90 percent of the workers benefited from the scheme.
Atthakorn Sirilatthayakorn – Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives
Formerly a business owner, Atthakorn followed in the footsteps of his father, who is a former deputy Transport minister and former constituency MP for Chachoengsao province.
He initially joined the Pheu Thai party and became a party-list MP in the 2011 general election. He moved to Palang Pracharath party before the 2019 election, on advice from his father, and became its party-list MP instead.
He was later chosen as the spokesperson of the Palang Pracharath party and a member of the party’s executive committee.
