With Over $400M In Assets, How Rich Is Thai PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra?

Paetongtarn Shinawatra became the youngest ever and the second female Prime Minister of Thailand in August 2024. However, the stylish politician has recently been making headlines for an unexpected reason. On January 3, 2025, the 38-year-old leader declared assets exceeding $400 million, which include over 200 designer handbags valued at more than $2 million, at least 75 luxury watches worth nearly $5 million, lavish vehicles, and overseas properties, according to Bangkok Post. 

The publication also reported that Shinawatra and her husband’s combined assets amount to 13.99 billion baht, while their young children own 500,000 baht. The Prime Minister reportedly holds 13.84 billion baht in assets, while her husband Pitaka Suksawat, a businessman, politician, and former pilot, holds 141.11 million baht.

Shinawatra reported an annual income of 265 million baht, including a salary of 3.40 million baht, dividends worth 259.26 million baht, interest of 2 million baht, and rental income of 890,000 baht. According to Bangkok Post, her annual expenditures totalled 57.72 million baht, including 45 million baht for personal expenses and 7 million baht for household costs.

Meanwhile, documents from the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) also revealed Shinawatra's liabilities worth nearly five billion baht, resulting in a net worth of 8.9 billion baht ($258 million). The Thai PM comes from a family of respected politicians and businessmen. Her father, Thaksin Shinawatra, is the 10th richest person in Thailand, according to Forbes.

Who Is Paetongtarn Shinawatra?

In August 2024, the Thai Parliament elected Shinawatra after dismissing Srettha Thavisin over 'ethical and moral' breaches. Shinawatra is the daughter of former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, who founded the Pheu Thai Party, and the niece of Thailand's first female PM, Yingluck Shinawatra. 

Paetongtarn Shinawatra enjoyed a landslide victory in the Parliament as her party and its allies constitute 314 out of 493 seats. She required the vote of at least half of the current legislators. She entered politics in 2021, as the chief of Pheu Thai's Inclusion and Innovation Advisory Committee.

Before politics, Shinawatra ran the hotel arm of her family business. She has a bachelor's degree in Political Science, Sociology, and Anthropology from Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, and a postgraduate degree in International Hotel Management from the University of Surrey, England.

Paetongtarn Shinawatra also ran for PM in 2023. Her campaign included lowering public transportation fares, expanding healthcare coverage and doubling the minimum daily wage. She was one of the favoured candidates. Her second child was born just two weeks before the elections.

Shinawatra's father, Thaksin Shinawatra was elected with the Thai Rak Thai Party in 2001 until he was deposed by a military coup in 2006. His sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, became the PM in 2011 until she was removed by the Constitutional Court in 2014, after which another military coup happened.

Both Thaksin and Yingluck left Thailand for self-imposed exile to avoid arrest, until the former returned in August 2023. Paetongtarn Shinawatra's appointment as the Prime Minister comes amid a long-standing dispute between the pro-royalist military and populist parties linked to the Pheu Thai party.