Yingluck Shinawatra
Yingluck Shinawatra is a Thai businesswoman, politician and a member of the Pheu Thai Party who was the 28th prime minister of Thailand from 2011 to 2014. Yingluck was Thailand's first female prime minister and its youngest in over 60 years. She was removed from office on 7 May 2014 by a Constitutional Court decision.
Born in Chiang Mai Province into a wealthy family of Chinese descent, Yingluck Shinawatra earned a bachelor's degree from Chiang Mai University and a master's degree from Kentucky State University, both in public administration. She then became an executive in the businesses founded by her elder brother, Thaksin Shinawatra and later became the president of property developer SC Asset and managing director of Advanced Info Service. Thaksin served as prime minister from 2001 until 2006 when he was overthrown by a military coup. He fled abroad shortly before he was convicted in absentia of using his position to increase his own wealth. Thereafter, he lived in self-imposed exile to avoid serving his prison sentence until he returned to Thailand in August 2023.
In May 2011, the Pheu Thai Party, which maintains close ties to Thaksin, nominated Yingluck as their candidate for Prime Minister in the 2011 election. She campaigned on a platform of national reconciliation, poverty eradication, and corporate income tax reduction and won a landslide victory.
After mass protests against her government in late 2013, she asked for a dissolution of parliament on 9 December 2013, triggering a snap election, but continued to act as caretaker prime minister. On 7 May 2014, the Constitutional Court of Thailand removed Yingluck Shinawatra from the office of caretaker prime minister and defence minister following months of political crisis. The court found her guilty of charges of abuse of power over the removal of national security chief Thawil Pliensri in 2011. In the wake of the May 2014 military coup, Yingluck was arrested along with former cabinet ministers and political leaders of all parties, and held at an army camp for a few days while the coup was consolidated.
She was tried in 2016 but did not appear in court in August 2017 for the verdict. An arrest warrant was issued. She reportedly fled the country. In September 2017, she was found guilty in absentia and sentenced to five years in prison. She is rumoured to now be in London. Yingluck has become the chairwoman and legal representative of Shantou International Container Terminals Ltd since 12 December 2018, a Chinese port operator, operating in the Port of Shantou in eastern Guangdong.
Early life and business career
Yingluck was born on 21 June 1967 in San Kamphaeng, Chiang Mai, Thailand. She is the youngest of nine children of Loet Shinawatra and Yindi Ramingwong. Her father was a businessman and member of parliament for Chiang Mai. Her paternal family is of Hakka Chinese origin, descending from Seng Saekhu who immigrated from Fengshun, Guangdong, to Siam in the 1860s, becoming a tax farmer in Chiang Mai. She was given the Chinese name 丘英樂. On her maternal side, she is a descendant of the former royal family of Chiang Mai through her grandmother, Princess Chanthip na Chiangmai. Yingluck grew up in Chiang Mai and attended Regina Coeli College, a private girls' Catholic school, for the lower secondary level, followed by Yupparaj College, a co-educational school, at the upper secondary level. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Faculty of Political Science and Public Administration at Chiang Mai University in 1988 and received a Master of Public Administration degree from Kentucky State University in the United States in 1991.Yingluck began her career as a sales and marketing intern in 1993 at Shinawatra Directories Co., Ltd., a telephone directory business founded by AT&T International. She later became the director of procurement and the director of operations. In 1994, she became the general manager of Rainbow Media, a subsidiary of International Broadcasting Corporation. She left as Deputy CEO of IBC in 2002, and became the CEO of Advanced Info Service, Thailand's largest mobile phone operator. After the sale of Shin Corporation to Temasek Holdings, Yingluck resigned from AIS, but remained managing director of SC Asset Co Ltd, the Shinawatra family property development company. She was investigated by Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission regarding possible insider trading after she sold shares of her AIS stock for a profit prior to the sale of the Shin Corporation to Temasek Holdings. However, no charges were filed. Yingluck Shinawatra is also a committee member and secretary of the Thaicom Foundation.
Yingluck received 0.68 percent of Shin Corp shares out of the 46.87 percent that Thaksin Shinawatra and his then-wife held in 1999. The military junta-appointed Assets Examination Committee charged that Yingluck made up false transactions and that "there were no real payments for each Ample Rich Co., Ltd shares sold" and "the transactions were made at a cost basis of par value in order to avoid income taxes, and all the dividends paid out by Shin to those people were transferred to Potjaman's bank accounts". However, the AEC did not pursue a case against her. Yingluck, in response, claimed that "her family has been a victim of political persecution".
Political career
Establishment of the Pheu Thai Party
After the governing People's Power party was dissolved and its executive board was banned from political activity for five years by the Constitutional Court on 2 December 2008, the former People's Power Party MPs formed the Pheu Thai Party. Yingluck was asked to become the party's leader, but she declined, saying that she had no desire to be prime minister and wanted to concentrate on business. Yongyuth Wichaidit became the leader of the party.US diplomatic cables leaked in 2011 revealed that during a 9 September 2009 meeting, former Deputy Prime Minister and "close Thaksin ally" Sompong Amornwiwat told Ambassador to Thailand Eric John that she did not envision a big role for Yingluck in the Pheu Thai Party, and that "Thaksin himself was not eager to raise her profile within the party, and was more focused on finding ways to keep his own hand active in politics." However, in a subsequent cable dated 25 November 2009, the ambassador noted that in a meeting with Yingluck, she spoke with confidence about the "operations, strategy and goals" of the Pheu Thai party and seemed "far more poised" than in previous meetings. The cable cited Yingluck saying that, "Someone could easily emerge relatively late in the game to take the reins of the party and serve as the next Prime Minister."
Yingluck's bank account was among 86 accounts that the Abhisit government accused of being used to finance the Red Shirt protesters during their demonstrations in 2010. Abhisit accused the Red Shirts of trying to overthrow the monarchy, something they denied. However, the government did not pursue any legal action against her. The Department for Special Investigation found that from 28 April 2009 to May 2010, 150 million baht was deposited into one of her accounts while 166 million baht was withdrawn. On 28 April 2010 alone, 144 million baht was withdrawn.
Pheu Thai Party leadership
Yongyuth had stated her intention of resigning as party leader in late 2010. Speculation about a snap election in early 2011 heightened internal debate over the party leadership. The front runners were Yingluck and Mingkwan Saengsuwan, who had led the opposition in an unsuccessful motion of no confidence against the Democrat Party-led coalition government. As late as 28 January 2011, Yingluck continued to rule out the party leadership, repeating that she wanted to focus on business. However, she was endorsed by veteran politician Chalerm Yubamrung.On 16 May 2011, the Pheu Thai party voted to name Yingluck as their top candidate under the party-list system for parliamentary election scheduled for 3 July. However, she was not made party leader and did not join the party's executive board. The ultimate decision was made by Thaksin himself. "Some said she is my nominee. That's not true. But it can be said that Yingluck is my clone... Another important thing is that Ms Yingluck is my sister and she can make decisions for me. She can say 'yes' or 'no' on my behalf," noted Thaksin in an interview.
2011 election and rise to premiership
Election campaign
Pheu Thai campaigned with a slogan of "Thaksin thinks, Pheu Thai acts". Yingluck's main campaign theme was reconciliation following the extended political crisis from 2008 to 2010, culminating in the military crackdown on protesters which left nearly 100 protesters dead and thousands injured. She promised to empower the Independent Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Thailand, the panel that the Democrat-led government had set up to investigate the killings. The ITRC had complained that its work was hampered by the military and the government.Yingluck also proposed a general amnesty for all major politically motivated incidents that had taken place since the 2006 coup, which could include the coup itself, court rulings banning Thai Rak Thai and People's Power Party leaders from seeking office, the People's Alliance for Democracy seizures of Government House and Don Muang and Suvarnabhumi Airports, the military crackdowns of 2009 and 2010, and the conviction of Thaksin Shinawatra for abuse of power. The proposal was fiercely attacked by the government, who claimed that it would specifically give amnesty to Thaksin, and also result in the return to him of the 46 billion baht of his wealth that the government had seized as a penalty. However, Yingluck denied that the return of seized assets was a priority for the Pheu Thai party, and repeated that she had no intention of giving amnesty to any one person. Abhisit claimed outright that Yingluck was lying and that amnesty to Thaksin actually was the Pheu Thai party's policy. The government blamed Pheu Thai for the bloodshed during the military crackdown.
Yingluck described a 2020 vision for the elimination of poverty. She promised to reduce the corporate income tax from 30 per cent to 23 per cent and then 20 per cent by 2013 and to raise the minimum wage to 300 baht per day and the minimum wage for university graduates to 15,000 baht per month. Her agricultural policies included improving operating cashflow to farmers and providing loans of up to 70 per cent of expected income, based on a guaranteed rice price of 15,000 baht per tonne. She also planned to provide free public Wi-Fi and a tablet PC to every schoolchild.