Paetongtarn Shinawatra: Thai PM candidate gives birth two weeks before election

Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who is one of the leading prime ministerial candidates in Thailand for the upcoming general elections, gave birth to a baby boy just two weeks before the polling day, her party confirmed on Monday (May 1).

The 36-year-old Paetongtarn, whose nickname is Ung Ing, announced the news about her second child on her official Facebook and Instagram. She shared a photo of the newborn, which appeared to be taken immediately after the birth.

The post on social media read: "Hi, my name is Prutthasin Sooksawas, nickname Thasin. Thanks for all the support. In a few days, wait for my mum to recover first, then I will meet the press."

The election is set to take place on May 14 and the campaigning is in the final stretch with Paetongtarn hoping to return to further fuel the populist movement her father and aunt led before they were ousted in army coups.

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The reformist groups, including Pheu Thai and Move Forward, are ahead of the establishment parties, news agencies reported citing opinion polls.

She is the daughter of billionaire former leader Thaksin Shinawatra. He is one of Pheu Thai's prime ministerial candidates and has been polling strongly.

Even late in her pregnancy, she was leading the party's campaign for the election in provinces throughout Thailand as one out of three people nominated by the main opposition party Pheu Thai to become prime minister.

There were rumours that she might take some time off, but Rinthipond Varinvatchararoj, Pheu Thai acting spokeswoman, said that she is confident that she would be present at Pheu Thai's final rally in Bangkok on May 12. Rinthipond told the news agency AFP that Paetongtarn "gave birth this morning".

Paetongtarn's father also shared the news. Taking to his official Twitter, he said that he would return to the kingdom to care for his seventh grandchild.

Thaksin lives in Dubai to avoid corruption charges he says are politically motivated. He was ousted in a 2006 coup. "All of my seven grandchildren were born while I lived abroad. I will go back to raise my grandchildren," he wrote, without specifying when he might return.

Both Thaksin and Paetongtarn's aunt, Yingluck Shinawatra, live in self-imposed exile to avoid prison convictions.

Paetongtarn is the front-runner, Prayuth trailed in fourth place in a mid-April poll for the prime ministerial candidate with 13.72 per cent. Prayuth became a civilian prime minister after the 2019 elections.

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