Global Courant 2023-05-03 11:15:00
BANGKOK – Ms. Paetongtarn Shinawatra, a leading candidate for Thailand’s prime minister, looked fresh two days after giving birth and said on Wednesday she was ready to resume campaigning, adding that she was confident that her Pheu Thai- party would win a landslide victory on 14 May. general election.
The mother-of-two called her children her “secret power” and confirmed she would be speaking at the party’s gathering on May 12. Other appearances on the campaign trail will depend on the condition of her newborn son, Prutthasin Sooksawas.
She spoke to reporters at Praram 9 Hospital in Bangkok, where she gave birth via caesarean section on Monday.
Accompanied by her husband Pidok Sooksawas, a commercial airline pilot, she showed the baby – who was nestled in a crib – to the waiting crowd of reporters.
Her mother Potjaman na Pombejra and elder sister Pinthongtha Shinawatra were also in hospital.
Paetongtarn, 36, is the daughter of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a military coup in 2006 and has been living abroad since 2008 to avoid a corruption-related prison sentence he says is politically motivated.
Her aunt is Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra, another Thai prime minister who was ousted shortly before her government was overthrown in another military coup in 2014. Yingluck also lives in self-exile abroad.
Until the end of April, Paetongtarn spoke at rallies of the Pheu Thai party, which leads opinion polls ahead of Thailand’s general elections.
In these polls, Ms. Paetongtarn is also the top or second most popular prime ministerial candidate, sharing the spotlight with Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of the Move Forward Party, and well ahead of Acting Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha of the United Thai Nation Party. .
Pheu Thai has nominated two other candidates for prime minister in this election: real estate mogul Srettha Thavisin, 60, and party strategist Chaikasem Nitisiri, 74.
Asked by reporters on Wednesday which of the three will be prime minister, Ms. Paetongtarn smiled broadly and said, “All three are ready.”
