Anutin Charnvirakul, the leader of the third-largest party in Thailand’s parliament, Bhumjai Thai, has been appointed as the new Prime Minister of Thailand. Charnvirakul is Thailand’s third leader in two years. He has taken power with the support of the People’s Party (the largest party in parliament), but with conditions: that parliament must be dissolved to hold elections in four months.
Historical conflict between elected governments causes uncertainty
Thailand’s politics have been polarized between opposing factions for years, with underlying tensions brewing on the surface and disrupting the market time and again. Undemocratic interventions are not off the table, with royalist, conservative, and military networks having overruled the outcomes of elections in Thailand’s political past. Prime Minister Charnvirakul’s appointment is not a new government; it is only the latest of extreme changes in Thailand’s long-standing power struggle.
Over the years, Charnvirakul’s political agility has given him the ability to expand Bhumjai Thai into the third-largest party in Thailand with 71 seats in 2023, whilst originally being a regional faction. Being Thailand’s third prime minister in two years, Anutin Charnvirakul is stepping into the role of “kingmaker” at an unstable time in Thailand’s political history. There has been an ongoing pattern of legal intervention for the ethical violations of populist leaders, such as Charnvirakul’s predecessors: Srettha Thavisin and Paetongtarn Shinawatra.
“Where there is a hole, there is a mouse”: Who is Anutin Charnvirakul?
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has been involved in politics since 2014, when he took over from his father as the leader of Bhumjai Thai. Most well-known for his success in decriminalizing cannabis in 2022, Prime Minister Charnvirakul has also served as Thailand’s deputy prime minister, health minister, and interior minister. The 58-year-old man is not only a government official but an established businessman, again successfully following in his father’s footsteps to navigate the construction industry.
The collapse of Thailand’s Pheu Thai-led government in early July 2025 left no viable candidate for prime minister. Charnvirakul, although the leader of the Bhumjai Thai party, was selected as a compromise: a caretaker prime minister, a sure representation of his Thai nickname, “mouse”, which translates to the saying: “Where there is a hole, there is a mouse”. Charnvirakul can definitely be seen as the mouse that has decisively stepped into this politically unstable hole. He was selected through a cross-faction deal, with a royal endorsement, but with conditions. The current parliament is to be dissolved, with elections to be held in four months.
The fate of Thailand in the face of political instability
The Thai prime minister is usually determined and selected prior to elections within each party, with the largest party’s selection taking on the formal role after elections (a fair format of government similar to what the country of Moldova is currently aiming to achieve). The People’s Party is currently the largest in Thailand’s parliament; however, with no available and viable candidate, Anutin Charnvirakul was selected. This is definitely unusual and is a reflection of political maneuvers rather than the votes of Thailand’s people.
With only 4 months until the agreed-upon elections, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul does not have much to secure his space at the top of the political hierarchy. That said, even if the People’s Party and its selected prime minister perform well in the elections, it is still possible the party will not be permitted to rule.
Now, the prime minister of Thailand, Anutin Charnvirakul, has carefully stepped into an extremely polarized environment, in a position to form new, and hopefully stronger, alliances across the many factions in the nation (as humanitarian forces are fighting for in Sudan). Whether the new prime minister will be able to live up to his promises and mould the political landscape to the benefit of his country and people is still to be seen.