Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra survived a no-confidence vote that confirmed the strength of her coalition in parliament on Wednesday.

Paetongtarn thanked her supporters in a Facebook post.

"All votes, both for and against, will be a force driving me and the cabinet to carry on working hard for the people," she said.

The censure debate lasted two days, during which opposition members criticized Paetongtarn's inexperience and management style.

However, the no-confidence motion was voted down by 319 to 162 votes, with seven abstaining.

Why was there a no-confidence vote?

The youngest premier in Thai history, the 38-year-old had been accused by opposition parties of being controlled by her father and former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Thaksin, 75, a popular but controversial figure in Thai politics, was ousted in a 2006 coup after being accused of corruption and abuse of power.

He went into exile for fifteen years, returning to Thailand only in 2023. He was arrested upon his return. However, he only served a few months of an eight-year sentence in a police hospital, and was released after being pardoned by the king in August 2024. 

During the debate over the no-confidence vote in parliament, opposition lawmaker Rangsiman Rome accused Paetongtarn of getting preferential treatment for her father.

"You made a deal, a demon deal, to get your father better conditions than other prisoners. The condition was your father will not be in jail for a single day," he said.

She denied the claims, saying she only became the premier a few months after her father was pardoned.

She was also accused of avoiding paying taxes, and the recent case of repatriation of some Uyghurs to China last month.

The Shinawatra dynasty

The Shinawatra family has held significant sway over Thailand's politics and economy for decades, at times locking horns with the influential establishment and the royalist military.

Paetontarn is the third person from her family to attain the prime minister post. 

However, her father Thaksin and aunt Yingluck were both thrown out of power in military coups.

Paetontarn, who is known in Thailand by her nickname Ung Ing, helped run the hotel arm of the family's business empire before entering politics a few years ago.

She grew her public profile and maintained a near-constant presence on the campaign trail during the 2023 elections.

Her father's dwindling Pheu Thai party and its coalition partners chose her as the leader after the ouster of former prime minister Srettha Thavisin.

Edited by: Wesley Rahn