Yingluck Shinawatra, nicknamed Pu, is a Thai businesswoman and politician, member of the
Pheu Thai Party, and the 28th Prime Minister of Thailand following the 2011 general election.
Yingluck was Thailand's first female Prime Minister at the time and its youngest Prime
Minister in over 60 years. Born in Chiang Mai Province into a wealthy
family of Chinese descent, Yingluck Shinawatra earned a bachelor's degree from Chiang Mai
University and a master's degree from Kentucky State University, both in public administration.
She became an executive in the businesses founded by her elder brother, Thaksin Shinawatra,
and later became the president of property developer SC Asset and managing director of
Advanced Info Service. Meanwhile, her brother Thaksin became Prime Minister and was then
overthrown in a military coup. He fled from Thailand, was convicted in absentia and has
lived in self-imposed exile. In May 2011, the Pheu Thai Party, which maintains
close ties to Thaksin, nominated Yingluck as their candidate for Prime Minister in the
2011 general election. She campaigned on a platform of national reconciliation, poverty
eradication, and corporate income tax reduction and won a landslide victory. On 7 May 2014,
the Constitutional Court of Thailand ordered Yingluck Shinawatra to step down following
months of political crisis. The Court found her guilty of charges of abuse of power over
the transfer of national security Chief Thawil Pliensri in 2011.
On 23 May 2014 Yingluck was arrested along with former cabinet ministers and political
leaders, in the wake of a military coup which had occurred the previous day. She was taken
with two family members to an army camp in central Thailand. A military official said
she would be detained for up to a week while the coup was consolidated.
Early life and business career
Yingluck Shinawatra is the youngest of nine children of Lert and Yindee. Her father was
a member of parliament for Chiang Mai. She is a descendant of the ruling monarch of Chiang
Mai through her grandmother, Princess Jantip Na Chiang Mai. Yingluck grew up in Chiang
Mai and attended Regina Coeli College, a private girls' school, at the lower secondary level
and then Yupparaj College, a co-ed school, at the upper secondary level. She graduated
with a BA degree from the Faculty of Political Science and Public Administration, Chiang
Mai University in 1988 and received a MPA degree from Kentucky State University in 1991.
Yingluck began her career as a sales and marketing intern at Shinawatra Directories Co., Ltd.,
a telephone directory business founded by AT&T International. She later became the director
of procurement and the director of operations. In 1994, she became the general manager of
Rainbow Media, a subsidiary of International Broadcasting Corporation. She left as Deputy
CEO of IBC in 2002, and became the CEO of Advanced Info Service, Thailand's largest
mobile phone operator. After the sale of Shin Corporation to Temasek Holdings, Yingluck
resigned from AIS, but remained Managing Director of SC Asset Co Ltd, the Shinawatra family
property development company. She was investigated by Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission
regarding possible insider trading after she sold shares of her AIS stock for a profit
prior to the sale of the Shin Corporation to Temasek Holdings. No charges were filed.
Yingluck Shinawatra is also a committee member and secretary of the Thaicom Foundation.
Yingluck received 0.68% of Shin Corp shares out of the 46.87% that Thaksin Shinawatra
and his then wife held in 1999. The military junta-appointed Assets Examination Committee
charged that Yingluck made up false transactions and that “there were no real payments for
each Ample Rich Co.,Ltd shares sold” and “the transactions were made at a cost basis
of par value in order to avoid income taxes, and all the dividends paid out by Shin to
those people were transferred to [her sister-in-law] Potjaman's bank accounts”. However, the
AEC did not pursue a case against her. Yingluck, in response, claimed that “her family has
been a victim of political persecution”. She has one son, Supasek, with her common-law
husband, Anusorn Amornchat. Anusorn was an executive of the Charoen Pokphand Group and
managing director of M Link Asia Corporation PCL. Her sister, Yaowapa Wongsawat, is the
wife of former prime minister Somchai Wongsawat. Political career
Establishment of the Pheu Thai Party After the governing People's Power party was
dissolved and its executive board was banned from political activity by the Constitutional
Court on 2 December 2008, former People's Power Party MPs formed the Pheu Thai Party.
Yingluck was asked to become the leader of the party but she declined, stating that she
did not want to be Prime Minister and wanted to focus on business. Yongyuth Wichaidit became
the leader of the party. US diplomatic cables leaked in 2011 revealed
that during a 9 September 2009 meeting, former Deputy Prime Minister and "close Thaksin ally"
Sompong Amornvivat told Ambassador to Thailand Eric John that he did not envision a big role
for Yingluck in the Pheu Thai Party, and that "Thaksin himself was not eager to raise her
profile within the party, and was more focused on finding ways to keep his own hand active
in politics." However, in a subsequent cable dated 25 November 2009, the Ambassador noted
that in a meeting with Yingluck, she spoke with confidence about the "operations, strategy
and goals" of the Pheu Thai party and seemed "far more poised" than in previous meetings.
The cable cited Yingluck saying that, "Someone could easily emerge relatively late in the
game to take the reins of the party and serve as the next Prime Minister."
Yingluck's bank account was among 86 bank accounts that the Abhisit government accused
of being used to fund Red Shirt protesters during their demonstrations in 2010. Abhisit
accused the Red Shirts of trying to overthrow the monarchy. However, the government did
not pursue any legal case against her. The Department for Special Investigation found
that from 28 April 2009 to May 2010, 150 million baht was deposited into one of her accounts
while 166 million baht was withdrawn. On 28 April 2010 alone, 144 million baht was
withdrawn. Pheu Thai Party leadership
Yongyuth had stated his intention of resigning as party leader in late 2010. Speculation
about a snap election in early 2011 heightened internal debate with regards to the party
leadership. The front runners were Yingluck and Mingkwan Sangsuwan, who had led the opposition
in an unsuccessful motion of no confidence against the Democrat Party-led coalition government.
As late as 28 January 2011, Yingluck continued to rule out the party leadership, repeating
that she wanted to focus on business. However, she was endorsed by veteran politician Chalerm
Yubamrung. On 16 May 2011, the Pheu Thai party voted
to name Yingluck as the party's top candidate under the party-list system for parliamentary
election scheduled for 3 July. However, she was not made party leader and she did not
join the executive board of the party. The ultimate decision was made by Thaksin. "Some
said she is my nominee. That's not true. But it can be said that Yingluck is my clone...
Another important thing is that Ms Yingluck is my sister and she can make decisions for
me. She can say 'yes' or 'no' on my behalf," Thaksin noted in an interview.
2011 election and rise to premiership
Election campaign
Pheu Thai campaigned with a slogan of "Thaksin thinks, Pheu Thai acts". Yingluck's main campaign
theme was reconciliation following the extended political crisis from 2008 to 2010, culminating
in the military crackdown on protesters which left nearly 100 protesters dead and thousands
injured. She promised to empower the Independent Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Thailand,
the panel that the Democrat-led government had set up to investigate the killings. The
ITRC had complained that its work was hampered by the military and the government.
Yingluck also proposed a general amnesty for all major politically motivated incidents
that had taken place since the 2006 coup, which could include the coup itself, court
rulings banning Thai Rak Thai and People's Power Party leaders from seeking office, the
People's Alliance for Democracy seizures of Government House and Don Muang and Suvarnabhumi
Airports, the military crackdowns of 2009 and 2010, and the conviction of Thaksin Shinawatra
for abuse of power. The proposal was fiercely attacked by the government, who claimed that
it would specifically give amnesty to Thaksin, and also result in the return to him of the
46 billion baht of his wealth that that the government had seized as a penalty. However,
Yingluck denied that the return of seized assets was a priority for the Pheu Thai party,
and repeated that she had no intention of giving amnesty to any one person. Abhisit
claimed outright that Yingluck was lying and that amnesty to Thaksin actually was the Pheu
Thai party's policy. The government blamed Pheu Thai for the bloodshed during the military
crackdown. Yingluck described a 2020 vision for the elimination
of poverty. She promised to reduce the corporate income tax from 30% to 23% and then 20% by
2013 and to raise the minimum wage to 300 baht per day and the minimum wage for university
graduates to 15,000 baht per month. Her agricultural policies included improving operating cashflow
to farmers and providing loans of up to 70% of expected income, based on a guaranteed
rice price of 15,000 baht per ton. She also planned to provide free public Wi-Fi and a
tablet PC to every schoolchild. Election results and the establishment of
the government Exit polls indicated a landslide victory,
with Pheu Thai projected to win as many as 310 seats in the 500-seat parliament. However,
the official result was 265 seats and 47% of the vote for Pheu Thai, with a 75.03% election
turnout rate. There were 3 million invalid ballots; the large number was cited as the
cause for the difference between the exit poll results and the official count. It was
only the 2nd time in Thai history that a single party won more than half of the seats in parliament;
the first time was in 2005 with Thaksin's own Thai Rak Thai Party.
United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon welcomed the outcome of the elections and
called for all parties to "respect the will of the Thai people as expressed through the
democratic process." Aung San Su Kyi congratulated Yingluck, praised the election as “free
and fair,” and said that she expected “the ties between Myanmar and Thailand to get better.”
Yingluck quickly formed a coalition with the Chartthaipattana, Chart Pattana Puea Pandin,
and Phalang Chon, and Mahachon, and New Democracy parties, giving her a total of 300 seats.
Outgoing Defense Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan said that he accepted the election results,
and after having talked with military leaders, would not intervene.
Prime Minister of Thailand, 2011–2014
Following the general election, the first separate session of the House of Representatives
was held in the morning of 5 August to select a new Prime Minister. 296 of the 500 members
of parliament voted to approve the premiership of Yingluck Shinawatra, three disapproved,
and 197 abstained. Four Democrat lawmakers were absent. Somsak Kiatsuranont, President
of the National Assembly, advised and consented King Bhumibol Adulyadej to appoint Yingluck
Prime Minister on 8 August. The Proclamation on her appointment was made retroactive, taking
effect from 5 August. Yingluck established her Council of Ministers
on 9 August. She and her Ministers were sworn in on 10 August. They were then required to
complete addressing their administrative policy to the National Assembly. According to the
Constitution, the address had to be made within fifteen days from the effective date of the
Proclamation on Yingluck's appointment. Key members of Yingluck's cabinet include
former Interior Permanent Secretary Yongyuth Wichaidit as Interior Minister, Securities
and Exchange Commission Secretary-General Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala as Finance Minister,
and former Defense Permanent Secretary General Yuthasak Sasiprapa as Defense Minister. Absent
from Yingluck's cabinet were Red Shirts who had spearheaded protests against the Democrat-led
government. Polls from shortly after her cabinet was announced
found that the cabinet rated most highly in terms of economic competency. It also showed
that Yingluck was much more popular than her exiled brother Thaksin.
2011 floods
The 2011 rainy season saw the highest levels of rainfall in Thailand in the previous 50
years. Flooding started in northern Thailand on 31 July, a week prior to Yingluck's appointment
as Prime Minister. Flooding quickly spread from the North to the Central Chao Phraya
River Basin, and by the beginning of October, the province of Ayutthaya, north of Bangkok,
was almost flooded. The floods were the worst in Thailand in over 50 years. Yingluck established
centralised flood monitoring and relief operations in mid-August and made tours of flooded provinces
beginning 12 August. Yingluck also pledged to invest in long-term flood prevention projects,
including the construction of drainage canals. Flood reduction measures were hampered by
disputes between people on the different sides of flood barriers: those on the flooded side
in some instances sabotaged the barriers, sometimes resulting in armed confrontation.
Opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva and military leaders called for Yingluck to declare a state
of emergency, claiming that it would give the military greater authority to deal with
embankment sabotage. A state of emergency had last been declared in 2010 during the
Abhisit-government's crackdown on anti-government protesters. Yingluck refused to declare a
state of emergency, saying that it would not improve flood management. Instead, she invoked
the 2007 Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Act and issued a disaster warning which gave
her government greater authority to manage flood control and drainage.
Cabinet reshuffle
On 18 January 2012, Yingluck reshuffled her cabinet, assigning six cabinet members to
new posts, naming ten new ministers and deputies and dismissing nine members of the government.
The regrouping was assessed as a step to increase loyalty to the head of government and a reaction
to discontent with the government's management of the flood disaster. Especially noted was
the choice of Nalinee Taveesin, who is on a U.S. blacklist for alleged business links
to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, and Nattawut Saikua, the first leader of the United
Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship in the government. Yingluck's first cabinet had
not incorporated any "Red Shirts" activists. On 30 June 2013, the fifth reshuffle occurred
in the cabinet of Yingluck, leading to changes in 18 cabinet posts. She herself assumed the
post of minister of defence in the reshuffle. 2013 Thailand protests
On 9 December 2013, Yingluck dissolved the country's Parliament and called early elections
in the face of the anti-government protests. 2014 corruption investigation
As Chairperson of the rice committee, Yingluck is facing investigation, with Thailand's anti-graft
agency who are investigating Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's role in the rice pledging
scheme after bringing formal charges of corruption against two of her cabinet ministers. The
National Anti-Corruption Commission will check to see if she was negligent in her duties
as chair of the National Rice Policy Committee. Despite being chairperson of the rice committee,
Yingluck admitted in the 2013 Censure debate against her government that she had never
attended meetings of the National Rice Policy Committee.
On May 7, 2014, the Constitutional Court unanimously dismissed Yingluck from office in consequence
of the unconstitutional transfer of a top security officer Thawil Pliensri as National
Security Council secretary-general in 2011. Thawil was moved from the post in September
2011, paving the way for then police chief Pol Gen Wichean to replace him. Pol Gen Priewpan
Damapong, the brother of the former wife of Yingluck's brother Thaksin, succeeded Pol
Gen Wichean as police chief. Yingluck argued that Pol Gen Priewpan's appointment was not
for the sake of her family because Thaksin had already divorced Potjaman Damapong when
the transfer was made. On May 8, 2014, the National Anti-Corruption
Commission unanimously agreed to indict Yingluck in the rice-pledging scheme corruption case
citing millions of rice farmers who remain unpaid.
List of countries officially visited During Yingluck Shinawatra's tenure as Prime
Minister, she traveled to more than 40 countries in an effort to strengthen the relationship
between them. Her goals included improvement of trade relations and increased export business
investments, and studying water resources management.
Asia Europe
Africa Asia-Pacific
ASEAN Ancestry
Royal decorations Yingluck has received the following royal
decorations in the Honours System of Thailand: Dame Grand Cordon of the Most Exalted Order
of the White Elephant: 6 April 2012 Dame Grand Cordon of the Most Noble Order
of the Crown of Thailand: 20 March 2012 The Boy Scout Citation Medal
See also Pheu Thai Party
Yingluck cabinet References
External links Pheu Thai Party website
Profile: Yingluck Shinawatra on BBC News Profile: Yingluck Shinawatra on CBC News
Yingluck Shinawatra collected news and commentary at Al Jazeera English