Treenuch breaks glass ceiling as new Palang Pracharath Party chief

Labour Minister Treenuch Thienthong pulled off a rare feat in early March, becoming one of the few women to lead a Thai political party after being elected chief of Palang Pracharath.

She takes over from 80-year-old General Prawit Wongsuwan, who resigned in January after nearly six years at the helm, citing health issues.

Treenuch initially served as caretaker leader, spearheading the former ruling party’s February election campaign under the guidance of Prawit, who stayed on as chief adviser.

She was officially elected leader on March 7 during a party general assembly that also ushered in a new executive board.

She said the new leadership team received the personal blessing of Prawit, who offered to serve as adviser – a move suggesting the former Army chief and deputy prime minister retains significant influence over the party.

A rarity in parties

Treenuch is among a handful of women who have led parties in Thailand. The others are Sudarat Keyuraphan (Thai Sang Thai Party), Paetongtarn Shinawatra (Pheu Thai), Tanaporn Vaithayanuwat (Ruam Palang Prachachon), and Kotchaporn Veroj (Independent Party).

Sudarat resigned as Thai Sang Thai leader on February 12 after her party won just two seats in the election. Paetongtarn, meanwhile, quit the Pheu Thai helm after the Constitutional Court removed her as PM in 2025 over a leaked conversation about the border dispute with Cambodia’s Hun Sen.

Tanaporn’s party secured just one seat in the election, while Kotchaporn’s won none, though both retained their leadership posts.

Treenuch, a former education minister and seven-time MP, inherits a party created as a vehicle to extend General Prayut Chan-o-cha premiership via the 2019 election that ended five years of military rule.

Prayut led the 2014 coup that toppled Yingluck Shinawatra’s government.

Palang Pracharath won 116 seats in its 2019 electoral debut, but that number plunged to 40 in 2023 and then just five after the February 8 poll.

Though it came second to Pheu Thai in 2019, strong support from a Senate dominated by military appointees helped it form a coalition government with Prayut as premier.

However, ties between Prawit and Prayut began fraying in 2021-2022, culminating in Prayut’s shift to the United Thai Nation (UTN) Party ahead of the 2023 election.

The defection marked a rapid decline in political fortunes for the former “brothers in arms”. UTN fared even worse than Palang Pracharath in February’s vote, securing just two seats.

Treenuch joined the race as Palang Pracharath’s main PM candidate. However, she bypassed the party-list route preferred by veterans of other parties to run for a seat in her home province of Sa Kaeo.

Her choice proved wise, as Palang Pracharath secured just one list seat but won four constituency contests.

Political inheritance

Treenuch is a niece of Sanoh Thienthong, a veteran power broker and close ally of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

She was born on September 12, 1972, in the eastern province of Sa Kaeo to a family of politicians. Her mother, Kwanruan, is a former senator and ex-MP for Sa Kaeo who also served as chief executive of the Sa Kaeo Provincial Administrative Organisation.

The family’s large political network extends to siblings, cousins and in-laws of Treenuch, who serve as local administrators and national politicians.

Treenuch earned a bachelor’s in finance and a master’s in economics from the Western Illinois University in the US.

She made her political debut aged 28, elected as a Sa Kaeo MP for Thaksin’s Thai Rak Thai Party in the 2001 election. As an MP, she was member of the faction led by her uncle, Sanoh, who served as the party’s chief adviser.

She was re-elected six times in her home province.

After nearly two decades as a member of Shinawatra-controlled parties, Treenuch defected to Palang Pracharath in 2018 and was re-elected for a fifth time the following year.

Under Prayut, Treenuch was appointed as education minister, becoming the first woman to hold the position since the ministry was established in 1892. She served from March 2021 to September 2023.

In September last year, she was appointed labour minister by Anutin Charnvirakul, who succeeded Paetongtarn as prime minister.

Treenuch became Palang Pracharath’s secretary general in November 2025 amid mounting speculation that Prawit was about to step down as party leader.