The 37-year-old accepted King Maha Vajiralongkorn’s mandate to form a government on Sunday, almost two years after entering politics.

She is the country’s youngest prime minister and the third Shinawatra to hold this office.

But she hopes to avoid the fate of her father and aunt, whose terms as prime minister both ended with the army seizing power after a power struggle lasting more than 20 years between the family and Thailand’s pro-royalist and pro-military elite.

Paetongtarn’s Pheu Thai Party appointed her to succeed Srettha Thavisin, who was dismissed as prime minister by the Constitutional Court on Wednesday for appointing a cabinet minister with a criminal record.

Before entering politics in late 2022, she helped run the hotel arm of the super-rich family’s business empire.

Despite being pregnant, she was a nearly constant presence on the campaign trail last year, regularly leading rallies in the oppressive tropical heat.

Just two weeks before election day, she gave birth to a son, described the baby as her “secret power,” and quickly returned to door-to-door canvassing.

But the election was a disappointment, with the Pheu Thai party coming second behind the new progressive Move Forward party.

It was the first time that a Shinawatra party had been defeated in a national vote, but Pheu Thai ultimately prevailed when Srettha took power in alliance with pro-military parties that had previously been staunch opponents of Thaksin and his supporters.

Pheu Thai Party members overwhelmingly elected Paetongtarn as party leader in October 2023 and vowed to revamp the party’s image.

Energy, Youth

Paetongtarn was born in Bangkok on August 21, 1986, the third and youngest child of Thaksin, a policeman turned telecommunications magnate who revolutionized Thai politics in the early 2000s, winning two elections before being ousted in a coup in 2006.

Known in Thailand by her nickname Ung Ing, she grew up in Bangkok and studied hotel management in the UK.

In 2019, she married commercial pilot Pidok Sooksawas and celebrated the wedding with two lavish receptions – one in the Thai capital and one in Hong Kong in the presence of her father, who was in self-imposed exile at the time.

The couple now has two children, who regularly appear in playful photos that Paetongtarn posts on her social media accounts, where she has more than a million followers.

In Thailand’s political scene, long dominated by stuffy older men, Paetongtarn stands out for her youth and energy – her taste for colorful designer clothes provides a striking contrast to the staid suits and uniforms of her rivals.

She was chosen as a candidate for prime minister, beating 75-year-old party leader Chaikasem Nitisiri. The move reflects “Pheu Thai’s strategy of supporting the youth movement,” political analyst Yuttaporn Issarachai told AFP.

But observers say she has to work hard not to give the impression that she is too much under her father’s influence.

Thaksin’s critics among the Thai elite have long suspected that he is de facto controlling the Pheu Thai party from afar, and observers will be watching closely for signs of Thaksin’s interference in Paetongtarn’s government affairs.

In the past, she said she is still his “little girl” and draws strength from his support and guidance.