Thailand’s new Prime Minister told lawmakers on Monday (September 29, 2025) that his government would address the country’s economic woes, find solutions to the ongoing border conflict with Cambodia through diplomacy and push for a new and more democratic constitution.

Anutin Charnvirakul faces a self-imposed deadline. He had promised to call elections in four months in exchange for the People’s Party — which holds the most seats in Parliament — supporting his bid to become Prime Minister. He was elected to Parliament earlier this month.

The party has a progressive platform and has long sought to change the existing constitution imposed under military rule, saying it wants to make it more democratic. Mr. Anutin had promised to call a referendum for an elected constituent assembly to draft a new charter.

He said in his inaugural speech in Parliament on Monday that his government will support the referendum and public participation to uphold the country’s constitutional monarchy.

Mr. Anutin also promised to tackle corruption and crime and “restore faith and happiness to the Thai people.” Mr. Anutin is constricted in what he can do by the four-month deadline, but also the terms of his deal with the People’s Party, which declared it would act as the Opposition in the Legislature, potentially voting against Mr. Anutin’s initiatives.

The Thai government will also seek to relieve household debt and reduce the rising cost of electricity, gasoline and transport, and move to alleviate fallouts from trade wars and U.S. tariff policy, Mr Anutin said.

He told lawmakers he will push for a referendum on whether Thailand should revoke the existing memorandum of understanding on border issues with Cambodia.

The two neighbours engaged in a five-day armed conflict in late July that killed dozens of civilians and soldiers and displaced more than 2,60,000 people. The countries’ competing territorial claims have not been resolved, and the risk of further fighting remains high despite a cease-fire agreement.

Mr. Anutin also said the government will crack down on illegal gambling and strive to improve the country’s natural disaster alert system, promote clean energy and tackle air pollution.

Mr. Anutin, who heads the Bhumjaithai Party, succeeded the Pheu Thai Party’s Paetongtarn Shinawatra. She was dismissed after being found guilty of ethics violations over a politically compromising phone call with Cambodia’s Senate President Hun Sen.

Anutin Charnvirakul, a veteran politician best known for successfully lobbying to decriminalise cannabis in Thailand, became the country’s Prime Minister after receiving a royal endorsement on Sunday (September 7, 2025), two days after he was chosen by Parliament following a court order that removed his predecessor.

Mr. Anutin, 58, succeeds Ms. Paetongtarn Shinawatra of the Pheu Thai Party, dismissed last week after being found guilty of ethics violations over a politically compromising phone call with neighbouring Cambodia’s Senate President Hun Sen before a border dispute between the two nations turned into a deadly five-day armed conflict in July that raised fears of a full-blown war in the region.

Thailand’s new Prime Minister had served in Paetongtarn’s Cabinet as a deputy Prime Minister and an Interior Minister, but resigned his positions and withdrew his party from her coalition government after news of the leaked phone call caused public uproar.

Mr. Anutin received the letter of appointment in a ceremony at his party Bhumjaithai’s headquarters in Bangkok, attended by senior members of parties expected to join his coalition government. They wore white civil servants’ uniforms used for royal and state ceremonies.

“I’d like to take an oath that I determine to perform my duties to my fullest capabilities, with honesty and virtue,” he read out a statement after receiving the endorsement.

Mr. Anutin successfully petitioned for the decriminalisation of cannabis, a policy that is now being more strictly regulated for medical purposes. He was also a Health Minister during the COVID-19 pandemic, and was accused of tardiness in obtaining vaccine supplies.

He won the vote in Parliament on Friday (September 5, 2025) with support from the main Opposition People’s Party. In exchange for their votes, Mr. Anutin has promised to dissolve Parliament within four months and organise a referendum on the drafting of a new constitution by an elected constituent assembly.

The People’s Party said it would remain part of the Opposition, leaving the new government potentially a minority one. The party, which runs on progressive platforms, has long sought changes to the constitution, imposed during a military government, saying they want to make it more democratic.

Mr. Anutin became the third Prime Minister of Thailand in two years after the 2023 general elections.

The People’s Party, then named the Move Forward Party, won the most seats but was kept from power when military-appointed senators, who were strong supporters of Thailand’s royalist conservative establishment, voted against the party’s candidate because they opposed its policy seeking reforms to the monarchy.

The Senate no longer holds the right to take part in the vote to elect a prime minister.

The Pheu Thai Party, which at the time came second in the elections, later had one of its candidates, real estate executive Srettha Thavisin, approved as Prime Minister to lead a coalition government. But he served just a year before the Constitutional Court dismissed him from office for ethical violations.

Mr. Srettha’s replacement, Ms. Paetongtarn, the daughter of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, also lasted just a year in office. Her government was already greatly weakened when the Bhumjaithai Party abandoned her coalition in June.

Pheu Thai said after Mr. Anutin won the vote that it would become an Opposition party.

Thailand’s next Prime Minister on Saturday (September 6, 2025) pledged to make good on his promise to lead the fractured interim government to new polls.

Conservative tycoon Anutin Charnvirakul was confirmed by parliament on Friday (September 5, 2025), ending a week-long power vacuum following the ouster of his predecessor Paetongtarn Shinawatra.

The construction magnate cobbled together a coalition of opposition blocs to shut out Pheu Thai, the electoral vehicle of the once-dominant Shinawatra dynasty’s patriarch Thaksin.

Mr. Anutin received the backing of the People’s Party, which holds a plurality of seats, on conditions that he recommitted to on Saturday (September 6, 2025).

“I think we are clear in terms of politics that we are going to dissolve the parliament in four months,” he said during a meeting at his party headquarters broadcast by Thai media.

“I will try to form my Cabinet as soon as possible,” he said, adding that the Foreign Minister and Energy Minister were already confirmed.

Mr. Thaksin unexpectedly left the kingdom before the parliamentary vote, bound for Dubai where he said he would visit friends and seek medical treatment.

The Supreme Court is due to rule on Tuesday (September 9, 2025) in a case over a hospital stay following his return from exile in August 2023, a verdict some analysts say could see him jailed.

“There will be no favouritism, no persecution, and no revenge,” Mr. Anutin told journalists on Friday (September 5, 2025).

Mr. Anutin’s right-wing Bhumjaithai party went into coalition with Pheu Thai in 2023, but pulled out in June over Paetongtarn’s alleged misconduct in a leaked phone call with Cambodian ex-leader Hun Sen.

The Shinawatras have been a mainstay of Thai politics for the past two decades, sparring with the pro-monarchy, pro-military establishment that views them as a threat to the kingdom’s traditional social order.

But they have faced a series of setbacks, including Paetongtarn’s removal last week.

Mr. Anutin previously served as Deputy Prime Minister, Interior Minister and Health Minister but is perhaps most famous for delivering on a promise to decriminalise cannabis in 2022.

His elevation to the premiership still needs to be endorsed by Thailand’s king to become official.