Thai Prime Minister Phaetorntharn Shinawatra on Friday declared more than $400 million in assets, including more than 200 designer handbags worth more than $2 million and at least 75 luxury watches worth almost $5 million. included, the party announced.
Petonthan, the youngest daughter of telecoms billionaire and former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was sworn in in September as the fourth member of her family to lead Thailand’s government in 20 years. Petonthan, who is currently 38 years old, was also Thailand’s youngest leader at 37 when he took office.
Mr. Paetongtarn was required to declare his assets and debts to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).
She identified assets of 13.8 billion baht ($400 million), according to documents posted on media websites.
According to her tax return, she had invested 11 billion baht and had an additional 1 billion baht in savings and cash.
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Her other assets included 75 watches and 39 other watches worth 162 million baht, 217 handbags worth 76 million baht, and real estate in London and Japan.
She also declared nearly 5 billion baht in debt, putting her net worth at 8.9 billion baht ($258 million), according to NACC documents published by local media.
A representative from the Thai Contribution Party confirmed to AFP that the figures reported by Thai media were accurate.
Her father and predecessor, Thaksin Thaksin, who was also the former owner of Manchester City Football Club, has a net worth of $2.1 billion, making him Thailand’s 10th richest person, according to Forbes. It has become.
Thaksin used the wealth generated by his Shin Corp communications empire to enter politics, and his family remained influential during years in exile after being ousted in a coup. Last year, Thaksin was released from a police hospital where he was serving a one-year prison sentence for corruption and abuse of power, the BBC reported.
According to the BBC, the telecoms billionaire became the first prime minister in Thailand’s history to lead an elected government for its entire term.
Analysts say there are long-standing ties between the kingdom’s wealth and power.
“In countries where democracy is not fully functioning, money plays an important role in political life,” Yuttaporn Isarachai from Sukhothai Thammarathirath University told AFP.
“There have been allegations of a lack of transparency, which has often been a justification for military intervention.”
When Prime Minister Pethunthaan’s immediate predecessor, Sureta Thabisin, was removed from office by Thailand’s Constitutional Court in August, she declared assets at 985 million baht, down from 1.02 billion baht at the start of her term. did. The BBC reported that the court ruled that Mr Sletta had “displayed a defiant attitude” and breached the “code of ethics”.
