Anutin Charnvirakul, the head of the Bhumjaithai Party, was elected Thailand’s 32nd prime minister on Friday. This ended weeks of political instability after Paetongtarn Shinawatra was removed from office. On September 5, the vote took held in Bangkok. Thailand’s state-run MCOT (TNA) says that the choice came after the caretaker administration failed to dissolve parliament, which forced the House to choose a new leader.
Anutin, who is 58 years old, got 311 votes from the 492-member House of Representatives. This is well above the 247 needed for a simple majority. According to TNA, his major opponent, Chaikasem Nitisiri of the Pheu Thai Party, got 152 votes, while 27 parliamentarians did not vote.
After Anutin’s minority bloc (146 seats across coalition partners) made a key deal with the main opposition People’s Party (143 seats, the most in the parliament), the outcome was largely expected. The People’s Party agreed to back Anutin’s bid while still being in the opposition. According to TNA, Anutin promised to dissolve parliament within four months and start writing a more democratic constitution. This might include conducting a referendum if the Constitutional Court says so.
MCOT reported that Anutin’s job is temporary: he is supposed to break the political gridlock and give power back to the people through a fresh election once the constitutional requirements are in place.
During his time as health minister, Anutin made some liberal policy changes, such as making cannabis legal. He was also the deputy prime minister in the last Pheu Thai-led coalition. However, Bhumjaithai left when a phone call between then-Prime Minister Paetongtarn and Cambodian leader Hun Sen was leaked, according to TNA.
Thailand’s Constitutional Court on August 29, 2025 dismissed Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, ruling she had committed a serious ethics violation in a leaked June 2025 phone call with Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen. The court ordered her removal effective July 1, the date she was previously suspended, and dissolved the entire cabinet, but will continue to serve in a caretaker capacity. Her removal made way for Friday’s parliamentary vote and the deal that put Anutin in office.
Next is a shorter schedule. According to the support pact TNA laid out, Anutin needs to rapidly move on to drafting a new constitution and dissolving the government. These will test how strong his cross-bench support is and how much the House wants to change.
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