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Tech reformist, professor, incumbent PM among key candidates in Thailand polls
Front-runners of Thailand elections include tech progressive Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, incumbent PM Anutin Charnvirakul, and dynast Yodchanan Wongsawat.
Thailand is set to elect its next leader as elections concluded on Sunday, with the counting process set to begin later today. The election has been mostly focused on the battle of the ruling conservative Bhumjaithai Party against the progressive People’s Party.
Among the key front-runners of the elections are tech reformists, Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, incumbent prime minister Anutin Charnvirakul and the engineering professor Yodchanan Wongsawat.
Tech progressive, Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut
The leader of the progressive People's Party is an entrepreneur, Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut. With dreams of “making innovation for better humanity,” according to his LinkedIn, Ruengpanyawut plans to build a tech firm that might one day be called the Google of Thailand, AFP reported.
Opinion polls show the People's Party as a clear frontrunner. Reformists like him are opposed by the conservative forces in Thailand, which has a long history of military coups and judicial bans on prime ministers.
The 38-year-old Natthaphong is a former executive at a cloud services provider and was accused of supporting changes in Thailand's strict royal insult law, which could see him banned from politics.
In his election promise, tech progressive Natthaphong has said that his party would encourage limits to the powers of unelected institutions, including removing the constitutional court's ability to disband parties or oust prime ministers.
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Incumbent PM Anutin Charnvirakul
Next in the race is incumbent prime minister Anutin Charnvirakul from the Bhumjaithai party. Hobby pilot and the heir to a construction fortune, Anutin is widely expected to retain his post, regardless of the election result.
His party came third in the previous election, but the 59-year-old became prime minister in September after his two predecessors were ousted by the courts. He is also widely known for championing Thailand's decriminalisation of cannabis.
Analysts have predicted that Anutin can emerge as a face in the next coalition, riding on the nationalist sentiment following last year's border conflict with Cambodia.
Despite his wealth, Anutin has presented himself as a man of the people, appearing on social media wearing a T-shirt and shorts. He has also used his private planes to deliver donated organs to hospitals for transplants.
Also read: Thailand PM dissolves parliament, paves way for national elections next year
Dynastic leader and professor, Yodchanan Wongsawat
Among the frontrunners of the Japanese elections is Yodchanan Wongsawat, a biomedical engineering professor at one of Thailand's top universities. Yodchanan is also next in line in the populist political dynasty started by his uncle, former prime minister and telecoms billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra.
The 46-year-old academic has no prior experience in elected office, though he did contest a parliamentary seat more than a decade ago in a poll later annulled by the courts.
Other thanThaksin, who is serving a prison sentence for corruption, three other members of the family have also served as Thailand’s premiership, among them is Yodchanan’s father, Somchai Wongsawat.
Well-educated Yodchanan holds a PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington and teaches at Mahidol University outside Bangkok. He also holds patents for several medical devices, including a "brain-based sleep alarm system" and a "brain-controlled wheelchair".
(With inputs from AFP)
