Anutin Charnvirakul, a shrewd dealmaker and mainstay of Thai politics throughout years of turmoil, was elected prime minister on Friday, capping off days of drama and a scramble for power during which he outmanoeuvred the most successful political party in Thailand’s history.
He said diplomat Sihasak Phuangketkeow, economist Ekniti Nitithanprapas and energy giant PTT executive Auttapol Rerkpiboon were “top executives in the organisations they will be responsible for”.
Ekniti is a finance ministry official who was once seen as a candidate for central bank governor while Auttapol helmed the country’s largest company, the state-owned energy firm, PTT Group.
Thailand’s foreign service will see former permanent secretary Sihasak return as minister as a fragile truce with neighbouring Cambodia holds after a border clash flared into a five-day conflict that left at least 43 dead in July.
The appointments, which become official after receiving royal approval, come at a crucial time for Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, where growth has been lagging regional peers amid months of political instability.
Anutin’s rout of rival contender Chaikasem Nitisiri was a humiliation for the ruling Pheu Thai party, the populist juggernaut of influential billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra.
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