Bhumjaithai Party leader Anutin Charnvirakul will stay in office as Prime Minister after the House of Representatives re-elected him in today’s session (19 March).

293 MPs voted for Anutin, including a People’s Party MP from Udon Thani. 119 voted for Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, leader of the opposition People's Party. 86 MPs from the Klatham, Thaipakdee, Thai Sang Thai, and Democrat parties abstained from voting along with both candidates, the House Speaker, and two deputy House Speakers. One Bhumjaithai MP was not present during the session.

59-year-old Anutin is the oldest son of a former Interior Minister who founded Sino-Thai, one of Thailand’s largest construction companies. He was formerly an executive member of the Thai Rak Thai Party and the Deputy Public Health Minister during the administration of former PM Thaksin Shinawatra. He was banned from politics for 5 years after the Thai Rak Thai party was dissolved in 2006. When the ban ended, he joined Bhumjaithai and was elected party leader.

Following the 2019 election, Bhumjaithai endorsed former coup leader Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha as Prime Minister. Anutin was made Public Health Minister in Gen Prayut’s Cabinet and later faced a nationwide backlash for his management of the Covid-19 pandemic and for dismissing the virus as a type of flu.

In the 2023 election, Anutin was nominated Bhumjaithai’s candidate for Prime Minister. Bhumjaithai and Anutin personally have affirmed their strong opposition to amending the royal defamation law, and said they would never join a coalition which had such a policy.

As the Move Forward Party, which won the most seats in the 2023 election, failed to form a government, the Pheu Thai Party formed a government with other conservative parties.

In September 2025, he was elected as Prime Minister to replace Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who was removed from office by the Constitutional Court over a leaked call with Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen. Two months later, in December 2025, he dissolved the House of Representatives following a heated debate about the Senate's voting power when it comes to future constitutional amendments.

There are concerns that Bhumjaithai has been involved in conspiracies, such as collusion in the 2024 Senate election, which is currently under investigation.

During this morning’s session (19 March), People’s Party MP Rangsiman Rome noted that, as Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Anutin ordered the shuffling of 250 district chiefs before the election. He alleged that Anutin was using his power to manipulate the election results.