Big Comrade: Former defence chief takes reins as Thai PM

Sign up now: Get STs newsletters delivered to your inbox

Former defence chief Phumtham Wechayachai had a previous stint as acting prime minister in 2024.

PHOTO: REUTERS

BANGKOK - Thailand’s former defence chief is set to be appointed acting prime minister on July 3, capping a colourful career for the political heavyweight once nicknamed “Big Comrade”.

Mr Phumtham Wechayachai earned his moniker over links in his youth to a 1970s student movement that rallied against the architect of a military coup, before their protests were violently crushed.

He fled to the jungle where communist guerrillas were plotting uprisings against the nation’s military, and recently he has been questioned over his associations.

But the 71-year-old has successfully transitioned into the limelight from a business role in the empire of Mr Thaksin Shinawatra, the founding force of a dynasty which has dominated Thai politics for decades.

Mr Phumtham has held the defence and commerce portfolios, and had a previous spell as acting prime minister after a crisis engulfed the top office last year.

On July 3, he is due to be sworn in as deputy prime minister and interior minister – making him acting premier again, after Mr Thaksin’s daughter

Paetongtarn Shinawatra was suspended from her role

Born in the suburbs of Bangkok, Mr Phumtham was nicknamed “Auan”, meaning “Chubby”, by his parents.

He earned a political science degree from a top Thai university and joined the student movement that took to the streets in 1976, opposing the return of military dictator Thanom Kittikachorn.

His childhood nickname belied his slim-faced appearance in a black-and-white photo of the protests, showing him brandishing speech papers with a