Anutin Charnvirakul Elected Prime Minister
A profile of Thailand's 32nd prime minister and his Bhumjaithai Party
Pheu Thai’s Fight, Thaksin’s Flight, and Anutin’s Win
Bhumjaithai leader Anutin Charnvirakul has been elected as Thailand’s 32nd Prime Minister.
I wrote yesterday that Pheu Thai appeared to be out of cards to play. The party attempted one final Hail Mary, proposing that if the People’s Party would vote for Chaikasem Nitisiri, he would immediately dissolve parliament instead of waiting for four months like Bhumjaithai did. But Chaikasem, who would have the sole power to execute this plan as prime minister, said that Pheu Thai had not even notified him of this decision, adding that he was merely a “doll.” By the afternoon the party released a video of Chaikasem reading out a pre-written statement affirming this proposal, but it was to no avail: PP leader Nattaphong Rueangpanyawut reiterated the party’s commitment to Bhumjaithai.
The more dramatic event was news in the evening that Thaksin Shinawatra had left the country. Although early reports said that he was headed to Singapore, enthusiastic plane trackers (soon his private jet became the most tracked flight on FlightRadar) noted that Thaksin’s plane started flying towards the Andaman Sea instead of continuing southwards. Thaksin then released a tweet explaining that he wanted to go to Singapore for a health checkup. However, immigration officials had delayed his flight, making it too late to land in Singapore’s Seletar airport which only operates until 10pm. He therefore decided to reroute to Dubai (where he spent most of his time during his period of self-exile) to enlist the services of his doctors there. Thaksin pledged to be back in Thailand by September 8th, in time to be present for his Police-General hospital court case on September 9th. I’ll point here to veteran journalist Suthichai Yoon’s questions about the timing of this trip and the sudden change in direction to Dubai.
At this point, there were clearly no viable plans remaining to scuttle Anutin’s election. The way appeared clear for Anutin to win the premiership based on the new partnership between Bhumjaithai and the People’s Party. And that was exactly what happened. In the House of Representatives, Anutin Charnvirakul received 311 votes — more than the number of MPs that previously publicly pledged to support him —while Chaikasem Nitisiri received 152 votes. There were 27 abstentions. 247 votes were needed for a majority.
Anutin was thus confirmed as Thailand’s 32nd prime minister.
Anutin Charnvirakul, Thailand’s 32nd Prime Minister
Once, when asked to place the party on a two-axis political spectrum chart, Anutin Charnvirakul placed Bhumjaithai right in the center. Anutin had placed it there, he explained, because it was “the center of gravity.” Only two years afterwards, he has succeeded in making Bhumjaithai the new center of gravity in Thai party politics.
It was not until relatively recently that the Bhumjaithai Party was thought of as a credible potential option to lead the government. The party traces its origins to the collapse of the government led by Thaksin’s brother in law, Somchai Wongsawat, in 2008. After Somchai was removed, the Pheu Thai Party then attempted to cobble together a majority in parliament that could sustain a new government. At that point, the influential Buriram politician Newin Chidchob reportedly told Thaksin, “It’s over, boss.” He led his “Friends of Newin” faction of politicians, formerly aligned with Thaksin, in defecting to the Democrat Party, ensuring that Abhisit Vejjajiva would be elected prime minister. That faction was reborn as the Bhumjaithai Party.
History does not repeat, but it does rhyme. A Pheu Thai government has once again collapsed, in no small part due to Bhumjaithai abandoning it. But this time, ‘It’s over, boss” leads not to Bhumjaithai supporting another coalition but instead leading a government in its own right, even if this government will be dependent on a confidence and supply agreement with the People’s Party.
In the 17 years since Bhumjaithai was first born by defecting from Thaksin to its second defection in 2025, the party has grown significantly. First thought of mainly as a localist party based around their home base in Buriram province, their first election results in 2011 were modest, with most of their 34 seats concentrated around the lower northeast and central regions where their local politicians had strongholds. By 2019, the party had increased their seats to 51. Their seats increased once again in 2023 to 73. Not enough in usual times to be a contender to set up a government, but with the largest party having no candidate of their own to propose and the second largest party having cycled through two prime ministers in two years, the political possibilities were widened.
Throughout its history the party has almost always been led by a member of the Charnvirakul family. For three years the party was led by Chaovarat Charnvirakul, Anutin’s father: the founder of the gigantic Sino-Thai Engineering & Construction company. In 2012, Chaovarat passed the reins to Anutin, who before that had served in the Thaksin cabinet. While the Charnvirakuls served as leader, the party’s secretary-general has usually been a Chidchob. Between 2012 and 2024 the secretary-general was Saksayam Chidchob, Newin’s brother; since then it has been Chaichanok Chidchob, Newin’s son. Chai Chidchob, Newin’s father, was Speaker of the House of Representatives from 2008 to 2011. The political alliance between the two families has now entered its third generation.
But as Newin officially retired from politics and publicly poured his attention into the athletic world — his Buriram United football club is now the dominant player in the Thai League —it was Anutin who can take the credit for turning Bhumjaithai into a formidable national force. His 2019 election campaign focused on legalizing marijuana for medical purposes, something he accomplished as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Health in the Prayut Chan-o-cha cabinet. (See him here wearing a weed shirt). Phood laew thum — “we do what we say” — became the party slogan. Anutin probably did not anticipate, of course, that as health minister he would have to deal with a global pandemic. But “Doctor Nhu,” as he was nicknamed, emerged from that crisis politically unscathed. At the same time, the party under Anutin’s leadership did not neglect its local strongholds, attracting strong local candidates from other parties and refreshing its strength in its existing bases with a “new generation baan yai”1 strategy.
To this point, one would have been hard pressed to explain what Bhumjaithai’s ideology was. Its official slogan in the 2019 general election was “decrease government power for the wellbeing of the people” — but the party can hardly be described as libertarian. After the 2023 general election, however, it became evident that Bhumjaithai was finding a clearer voice on the political stage. Its MPs led the charge in preventing Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat from taking power with a spirited defense of the lese-majeste law, which Move Forward had pledged to amend. The party changed its logo to dark blue, eliminating red from its branding — a symbolic act, perhaps. With the decline of the Democrats and the exit of Prayut from the political stage, Bhumjaithai took on the mantle of becoming Thailand’s main conservative party. In the triangular dynamics of Thai politics — the red camp in one corner, the orange camp in the other — the dark blue camp became the core pillar of the third. Dark blue and red thus combined to leave orange in the cold.
With Move Forward blocked from power and Pheu Thai now leading the government, Anutin as leader of the coalition’s second biggest party was appointed as Interior Minister — one of the most coveted cabinet posts, responsible for a broad swathe of bureaucratic appointments. Yet even as Bhumjaithai played a key role in cementing the Thaksinite-conservative grand compromise, a key foundation of the political architecture of the Pheu Thai government, they eventually brought it down. The media nicknamed Anutin Bhumjaikhwang — “proud to block” — because of heightened perception that Bhumjaithai was playing the role of internal opposition in the coalition government. When Pheu Thai threatened to take back the Interior Ministry earlier this year, Anutin packed up his bags — then officially left the coalition on the same day as Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s disastrous phone call with Hun Sen was leaked. And immediately after Paetongtarn was removed from office, Anutin was already heading towards the People’s Party headquarters to cement a new marriage of convenience that would drive Pheu Thai out of power.
By outmaneuvering Pheu Thai to form a new government, Anutin has taken the biggest gamble of his political career so far. He must ensure that his alliance with the People’s Party will not dent the inroads that he has made with the conservative electorate. He will be hoping that the confidence and supply agreement he has made will be able to sustain a minority government: something that few in Thailand has ever tried to do. And he must have judged that he can manage the pressing economic issues and border tensions that bedeviled his predecessor in such a way that would not tank him too, allowing Bhumjaithai to place itself in pole position at the next general election.
Despite the fact that Anutin has proven himself one of Thailand’s most effective political operators, the path forward will not necessarily be easy for him. He will be managing an unruly coalition: half a party here, another group of defectors there. Pheu Thai will probably go on the offensive in the opposition, having called special attention to the Khao Kradong land reclamation case and the Senate collusion case. The road ahead on fulfilling the pledges he has made is daunting, especially considering the new base he is trying to acquire: what does constitutional reform look like that pleases both the People’s Party and his own supporters? And if he is unable to make progress on his pledges, what becomes of the confidence and supply agreement? Anutin’s margin of victory was sizable. Can he keep his parliamentary base of support together over the next four months? Indeed, will he dissolve parliament in four months?
Anutin has been widely praised for flying his own private jet in his spare time to deliver needed organs to the sick. As a prime minister navigating unprecedented circumstances, managing a minority government, it will take immense political skill for him not to fly too close to the sun. The next four months are likely to be eventful.
The baan yai (“big house”) is a euphemism for the local political dynasties that dominate Thailand’s provinces.
Let's have a joint on that.