Prime minister of Thailand, a construction tycoon who took office in September 2025. He is the leader of Bhumjaithai (the Thai Pride Party), which holds only about one-seventh of the seats in the lower house. He became the country's third prime minister in two years. The People's Party agreed to prop up his minority government from the outside, in exchange for a pledge to call elections by early 2026 and to hold a referendum on constitutional change.
His popular nickname is "Nu", which in Thai can mean either mouse (to his friends) or rat (to those whom he has crossed). A biography of him was entitled "Where there is a hole, there is Mouse", a nod to his reputation for coming out on top from awkward spots. He is known for his retail-political skills with poor farmers in the north-east, Bhumjaithai's base. His social-media accounts portray him singing karaoke, playing the saxophone and piloting his private aircraft.
He promised to take a hard line on the border dispute with Cambodia when he came into office. When fighting resumed on December 8th 2025, he told reporters: "If you want things to stop, tell the aggressor to stop." Thailand's top general said the objective was to "cripple Cambodia's military capability for a long time to come". The generals back Anutin's government and would like to see him win big in the expected early-2026 election; a lasting military success could also reshape how Trump sees the two countries.
His Thai Pride Party is preparing to fight a tough election campaign against the People's Party, for whom reforms to the monarchy and army are central tenets. The muted public reaction to Queen Sirikit's death on October 24th 2025 was unhelpful to him. Some interpretations of court customs would prohibit an election during a royal mourning period; if his popularity has not recovered by early 2026, he could cite them as cause to delay the polls.
Ahead of the February 8th 2026 election, Anutin had skilfully combined a populist economic programme with support for the monarchy and the army. Though his Thai Pride Party won a piffling 3% of the proportional vote at the 2023 election, it surged to 22% in the most recent reliable poll before the vote. He is a more appealing standard-bearer for the establishment than the martinet generals who led other conservative parties into the past two elections. He appointed professionals to the finance, commerce and foreign ministries but said remaining cabinet seats were up for grabs for coalition partners.
On February 8th 2026 the Thai Pride Party won a surprise outright victory—the first time this century that Thailand's conservatives had won a general election. Thai media projected that BJT would hold just under two-fifths of the lower house, enough to cobble together a majority among other conservative parties without needing the populists. Mr Anutin's retail-political skills—recruiting scores of local political bosses to run on his party's ticket in rural areas—and two short border wars with Cambodia that stoked nationalism proved decisive. The liberal People's Party won more votes nationwide but these were too heavily concentrated in cities and among the middle classes, punishing them under the largely first-past-the-post system. A simultaneous referendum on February 8th authorised the drafting of a new constitution, but the People's Party will be in no position to shape it.
My method is to take the utmost trouble to find the right thing to say. And then say it with the utmost levity.