Akanat Promphan

Akanat Promphan (Thai: เอกนัฏ พร้อมพันธุ์; born 12 January 1986) is a Thai politician and Democrat MP who served as Private Secretary to his father-in-law Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban in the government of Abhisit Vejjajiva and as a spokesman for the People's Democratic Reform Committee protest movement.^[1]

Akanat Promphan
เอกนัฏ พร้อมพันธุ์
Akanat in November, 2024
Minister of Industry
Incumbent
Assumed office 3 September 2024
Prime Minister	Paetongtarn Shinawatra
Preceded by	Pimphattra Wichaikul
Secretary-General of the United Thai Nation Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 3 August 2022
Preceded by	Thandee Hongrattanauthai
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 3 July 2011 – 8 December 2013
Succeeded by	Supaporn Kongwutpanya
Constituency	Bangkok 29
Personal details
Born	(1986-01-12) January 12, 1986 (age 39) Bangkok, Thailand
Political party	United Thai Nation Party (2022–present)
Other political affiliations	Democrat Party (2011–2022)
Relatives	Suthep Thaugsuban (father-in-law)
Alma mater	St John's College, Oxford (BS, MS)

Early life and education

Akanat was born on 12 January 1986 in Bangkok as the second son of Pornthep Techapaibul and Srisakul Promphan, who later divorced. His father, Pornthep, once served as a deputy minister in the government of Chuan Leekpai, while his mother, sister of veteran Democrat politician Niphon Promphan, eventually remarried Suthep Thaugsuban, who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand from 2008 to 2011.^[2][3]

He attended Saint Gabriel's College in Bangkok until he was 10, after which he studied in Australia and then at Charterhouse School in the United Kingdom. He read engineering, economics and management at St John's College, Oxford, receiving a bachelor's and a master's degree.^[3]

Political career

Akanat entered politics shortly after graduating from Oxford, becoming private secretary to his stepfather, Suthep, then Deputy Prime Minister.^[3] Akanat was subsequently elected a Democrat Member of Parliament representing Bangkok in the 2011 general elections. At 25, he was the youngest MP elected that year. He and other members of his family received acclaim for his work during the 2011 Thailand floods, where he delivered food and other supplies to aid kitchens in Bangkok and Southern Thailand.^[4]

In June 2013 he resigned from Parliament, to help lead the People's Democratic Reform Committee dedicated to ousting the government of Yingluck Shinawatra, and served as the organisation's spokesman.^[4] After the removal of the Yingluck government and coup d'état in 2014, Akanat joined Suthep in being ordained as a monk for a year. In 2022 Akanat resigned from Democrat Party and became secretary-general of the United Thai Nation Party on 3 August 2022.