Anutin Charnvirakul
Updated: Wikipedia source
Anutin Charnvirakul (born 13 September 1966) is a Thai politician, engineer, and businessman who has served as the 32nd prime minister of Thailand since 2025. He has led the Bhumjaithai Party since 2012 and has been a member of the House of Representatives since 2019. Born into a wealthy family in Bangkok, Anutin was educated in Thailand and the United States, earning a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from Hofstra University in 1989 and a master's degree in business administration from Thammasat University in 1990. He joined Sino-Thai Engineering and Construction (STECON), a family-owned construction company, where he became president in 1995. During his tenure, he played a major role in several large-scale infrastructure projects, most notably the construction of Suvarnabhumi Airport. Anutin began his political career in 1996 as a member of the Thai Rak Thai Party. He later served as advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Minister of Commerce in 2004, and Deputy Minister of Public Health from 2004 to 2006, during the premiership of Thaksin Shinawatra. Following the dissolution of the Thai Rak Thai Party in 2007, he was among the 111 executives banned from politics for five years. In 2012, Anutin returned to politics by joining the Bhumjaithai Party, succeeding his father, Chavarat Charnvirakul, as party leader. In 2019, he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Health in the second Prayut cabinet. During this period, he played a key role in managing Thailand's COVID-19 response and in the 2022 removal of cannabis from the narcotics list. Later, in 2023, Anutin became Minister of Interior in the Srettha cabinet, while continuing to serve as deputy prime minister under both Srettha and Paetongtarn governments. In June 2025, amid the Cambodian–Thai border crisis and following the leak of a phone conversation between Paetongtarn and Hun Sen, president of the Senate of Cambodia, Anutin and the Bhumjaithai Party withdrew from the Paetongtarn cabinet and moved to the opposition. Subsequently, in August 2025, after the Constitutional Court removed Paetongtarn from office, Anutin reached an agreement with the People's Party. On 3 September 2025, Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, leader of the People's Party, announced his support for Anutin to become prime minister and form a minority government under the conditions that he dissolve the House of Representatives within four months, draft a new constitution, and avoid forming a majority coalition. On 5 September 2025, Anutin was elected Prime Minister with confidence and supply support from the People's Party, and on 7 September, King Vajiralongkorn officially endorsed his appointment.