Tycoon leads Thailand PM race

BANGKOK (AFP) — Thailand’s parliament is set Friday to vote in a right-wing tycoon as prime minister, ousting the nation’s dominant political dynasty from office after their figurehead was sacked by court order.

Since 2023 elections, the Pheu Thai party of the powerful Shinawatra family has monopolized Thailand’s top office, but a court ruling last week saw dynasty heiress Paetongtarn Shinawatra sacked from the post.

Rushing into the power vacuum, construction magnate Anutin Charnvirakul has secured backing from enough opposition blocs to likely give him a comfortable majority in the fractured lower house.

Voting is expected any time from around 10 a.m. in the parliament building constructed by his family firm.

“It’s normal to feel excited,” Anutin told a scrum of reporters as he arrived for the vote.

Anutin, 58, has previously served as deputy prime minister, interior minister and health minister — but is perhaps most famous for delivering on a promise in 2022 to legalize cannabis.

Charged with the tourist-dependent kingdom’s Covid-19 response, he accused Westerners of spreading the virus and was forced to apologize after a backlash.

The Shinawatra clan have been a mainstay of Thai politics for the past two decades, cultivating a populist brand and jousting with the pro-military, pro-monarchy establishment.