Bangkok, Thailand – The king of Thailand has approved the new 36-member cabinet of Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, the final step to form a government ahead of a swearing-in ceremony.
The Royal Gazette published the endorsement on Friday of the ministers appointed by the Bhumjaithai Party’s conservative leader, who has chosen technocrats and businesspeople for key positions.
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Among them, deputy prime minister and finance minister will be Ekniti Nitithanprapas, who heads the Treasury amidst global economic uncertainty and the decline of the Thai economy.
Anutin, a 59-year-old construction tycoon, has also appointed hotel executive Suphajee Suthumpun as commerce minister at a time when the country is trying to boost tourist numbers, crucial to its economy, and former CEO of Thai energy giant PTT, Auttapol Rerkpiboon, as energy minister.
Sihasak Phuangketkeow, former permanent secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will remain in charge of foreign affairs, signaling continuity. While he is expected to try to improve relations with Cambodia, a country with which Thailand fought in a five-day armed border confrontation at the end of July, Anutin will also retain Nattaphon Nakpanich as defense minister.
Anutin’s new cabinet will be sworn in next Wednesday before King Maha Vajiralongkorn, according to local media reports on Friday.
With the legalization of marijuana as one of his political achievements when he was health minister, Anutin assumed office as the nation’s 32nd prime minister – the third in two years – on Sep. 7, two days after being elected by parliament, with the support of the party with the most seats in the chamber, the reformist and progressive People’s Power Party (PP).
The PP—the new formation of the party that swept to victory in the 2023 elections, but was prevented from forming a government by the conservative Senate—installed Anutin in power on the condition that he call snap elections by January.
Anutin’s rise to power came after the conservative-leaning Constitutional Court removed former prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from office on Aug. 29 for ethical breaches.
Paetongtarn was removed from office for criticizing the powerful military during a conversation with Cambodian leader Hun Sen, triggering a political crisis in Thailand that led Anutin’s party to exit the ruling coalition.
Anutin, who previously also served as interior minister, could now interfere with reforms planned by Paetongtarn’s Pheu Thai Party, including those related to the regulation of cannabis sales.
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