Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s cabinet is now official, after the list appeared today in the Royal Gazette. Anutin’s cabinet cannot officially perform their duties yet until Anutin makes his policy declaration to parliament, but we are now closing in on the kickoff towards the four month deadline for dissolving parliament.
Thai PBS World has an English infographic of the new cabinet here.
Cabinet Breakdown By Party
Bhumjaithai: 13 cabinet seats
2 deputy prime ministers (1 concurrent and 1 non-concurrent)
5 ministers (Interior, Transport, Culture, Digital Economy, Higher Education)
4 ministers attached to the Prime Minister’s Office
4 deputy ministers (2 Interior, 1 Transport)
Kla Tham: 7 cabinet seats
1 deputy prime minister (1 concurrent)
4 ministers (Agriculture, Education, Social Development, Tourism and Sport)
3 deputy ministers (2 Education, 1 Agriculture)
Suchart Chomklin faction: 3 cabinet seats
1 deputy prime minister (1 concurrent)
2 ministers (Natural Resources and Environment, Industry)
1 deputy prime minister (Industry)
Palang Pracharath: 3 cabinet seats
2 ministers (Labor, Public Health)
1 deputy ministers (Public Health)
Sakda Vichiensil faction: 1 cabinet seat
1 deputy minister (Interior)
Non-partisan appointments: 9 cabinet seats
2 deputy prime ministers (1 concurrent and 1 non-concurrent)
6 ministers (Finance, Commerce, Energy, Foreign Affairs, Justice, Defense)
2 deputy ministers (Finance, Defense)
Observations
1. Bhumjaithai has taken a significantly smaller chunk of the cabinet than what one might usually expect. Anutin’s coalition officially has 146 MPs, and Bhumjaithai composes almost half of that number. Yet of the 36-member cabinet, only 13 individuals are from Bhumjaithai. That’s a little more than a third. It’s also interesting that Anutin appointed four ministers attached to the PM’s Office; I think you have to go back at least two decades to find a cabinet with so many. It suggests that the large number of “outsider” appointments (see here for my analysis on the technocrats) that Anutin has made has required a degree of internal compromise, and there were probably Bhumjaithai politicians who otherwise would have received an appointment who ended up missing out.
2. There are a lot of familiar faces from Bhumjaithai, including Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Phipat Ratchakitprakarn (Bhumjaithai’s key man for the Southern region who has held multiple cabinet positions) and Culture Minister Sabida Thaised (previously deputy interior minister and the daughter of Uthai Thani politician Chada Thaised). But there are a number of first-time appointments whose profiles Anutin is likely hoping to boost, including Digital Economy Minister Chaichanok Chidchob (the Bhumjaithai secretary-general and son of Newin Chidchob) and Paradorn Prissananantakul (an Ang Thong politician who previously served as deputy speaker).
3. I imagine that the coalition partners are satisfied with their allocations and this should keep the government relatively stable. There is a fair bit of continuity; Kla Tham was already running the Agricultural and Education ministries under the Paetongtarn administration. Technically United Thai Nation already had the Industry ministry under Pheu Thai, but I wouldn’t expect policy continuity. Gone is the previous minister Akanat Promphan (who could still be joining Bhumjaithai) and he is replaced by Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana, who is from a different faction of the party.
4. Unsurprisingly, several ministers have Buriram connections. This includes Deputy Prime Minister Sophon Saram, a longtime member of Bhumjaithai who had not appeared in early cabinet rumors. The Justice Minister, Rutthaphon Naowarat, served as a police commander in Buriram. And of course, Anutin is serving concurrently as Interior Minister. Given that Anutin has pledged that he will not intervene in the Khao Kradong case in Buriram, how these appointments perform will be closely watched by the opposition.
5. Anutin has chosen to go for continuity with national security, handing the defense portfolio to General Nattaphon Narkphanit, who has been acting defense minister since Pheu Thai’s last cabinet reshuffle and was previously an advisor to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. Anutin has said that given the tensions with Cambodia there should be “no charge of horses in the middle of a battle,” but this may not please those dissatisfied with the previous government’s handling of the conflict. Deputy Defense Minister Lt. General Adul Boonthamcharoen is an ex-commander of the Second Army Region (where much of the tensions with Cambodia took place).
We’ll have more to say on the cabinet as they get to work over the next four months.