Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn appointed Paetongtarn Shinawatra as the country’s new Prime Minister on 18 August 2024. Her appointment prompted several world leaders to congratulate her historic victory as Thailand’s youngest and second woman Prime Minister. Responding to the message, PM Shinawatra thanked the leaders for their good wishes and expressed her keenness to further the existing bilateral relations between Thailand and other countries. The new PM is also eager to explore new avenues of diplomatic ties to strengthen Thailand’s relationship with the rest of the world.
Notable among the dignitaries who congratulated her is Indian PM Shri Narendra Modi. On 18 August, PM Modi conveyed his regards to his Thailand counterpart and wished her a successful political tenure. Remarking that the relations between both countries are based on the solid foundations of “civilisational, cultural and people to people connect,” PM Modi looked forward to strengthening the bilateral ties between India and Thailand.
PM Shinawatra responded to the heartfelt message by thanking PM Modi for his wishes. She reiterated her commitment to strengthening diplomatic relations between India and Thailand. She identified a few key areas of cooperation. These are “trade and investment, culture, people-to-people contact, and tourism.” In particular, PM Shinawatra emphasised increasing air travel between the two countries. Expressing her eagerness to explore new avenues of collaboration, she added, “I am confident that we can build upon our existing ties and explore untapped potentials to create even greater opportunities for our two countries, peoples and beyond.”
Thirty-seven years PM Shinawatra, a former business executive, comes from a renowned Thai political dynasty. Her father, Thaksin Shinawatra, was the Prime Minister of Thailand from 2001 to 2006. Her aunt, Yingluck Shinawatra, served in the PM office from 2011 to 2014. PM Shinawatra is an alumnus of two prestigious universities, viz. Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, where she pursued a degree in Political Science and University of Surrey in the U.K., where she pursued a Master’s degree in International Hotel Management. PM Shinawatra has considerable experience in the business sector, working in various jobs spanning from humble positions to leadership roles. She has successfully handled the family business empire, looking after its golf course and firms in the real estate, telecommunications, and hospitality sectors. Although PM Shinawatra will have to give up her business roles to keep up with Thai laws, her keen business understanding is expected to contribute to the growth of the Thai economy.
India and Thailand share robust tourism relations. Till COVID-19, India had 300 weekly flights to Thailand with direct connections between 17 cities and Thailand. According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Indians became the most extensive tourist group to arrive in Thailand by 27 May 2022, with more than 1,00,000 till the said date. Both sides agreed to work on the tourism sector in the 13th India-Thailand Joint Trade Committee organised in New Delhi in 2023. PM Shinawatra’s commitment to secure tourism relations with India will resume equally robust connectivity between the two nations.
