Move FM Global News

BANGKOK, Thailand: Paetongtarn Shinawatra, 36, the frontrunner in many opinion polls for the May 14 election for prime minister, said she would resume campaigning next week after giving birth a few days ago.

One of Thailand’s leading prime ministerial candidates, Shinawatra made her first public appearance in a month with her second child Prutthasin, who was born on April 1.

Her Pheu Thai Party is also leading in recent polls, having won every election since 2001, including two in landslides.

“Thailand needs to change and the Pheu Thai party is the only answer,” she told a press conference at a Bangkok hospital, shortly after introducing her new child in an incubator, whom she described as “a blessing.”

“We can’t wait anymore … If Pheu Thai can win a landslide and be the government, we can make change straightaway.”

Asked about a Move Forward alliance, she said Pheu Thai would join “with parties that support our policies” and ruled out military-backed rivals.

The Shinawatra family remains divisive in Thailand, loved by many for its years of populist policies, but reviled by some of the country’s most powerful families and institutions.