Paetongtarn Sworn in as Thailand's 31st Prime Minister

BANGKOK: The Thai House of Representatives elected Paetongtarn Shinawatra, leader of the Pheu Thai party, as the 31st Prime Minister. She received 319 votes in favor, 145 votes against, and 27 abstentions.

At 37 years old, Paetongtarn, the daughter of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, is the youngest person ever to become Prime Minister in Thailand.

She succeeds Srettha Thavisin, who was ousted by the Constitutional Court on August 14. Paetongtarn becomes the third member of the Shinawatra family to assume the premiership after her father Thaksin Shinawatra and aunt Yingluck Shinawatra.

The coalition government parties had, as recently as August 15, agreed to back a Pheu Thai party chief, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, for the premiership.

Thai's electoral law requires a prime ministerial candidate to win over half of the 493 seats in the House of Representatives, that is at least 247 votes. The ruling coalition led by Pheu Thai holds 11 parties with 314 current seats in the House.

Paetongtarn, or "Ung-ing" as her family calls her, was born in the US on August 21, 1986. She is a political science major, with a minor in sociology and anthropology, and finished from Lumpini, Chulalongkorn University in the year 2008. Moreover, she holds a Master's degree in International Hotel Management from University of Surrey, UK.

Before going into politics, she had been a director at a significant shareholder in SC Asset Corporation, one of the big property companies, and Thaicom Foundation. She also owns 20 other companies that deal with real estate, telecommunications, and media.

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