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Anutin Charnvirakul

Thai politician (born 1966) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Anutin Charnvirakul
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Anutin Charnvirakul (Thai: อนุทิน ชาญวีรกูล, RTGS: Anuthin Chanwirakun; born 13 September 1966) is a Thai politician who served as the Minister of Interior and Deputy Prime Minister from 2023 until his resignation on 19 June 2025. From 2019 to 2023 he was the Minister of Public Health in Prayut Chan-o-cha's government and was the prominent public figure in charge of managing the COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand.[3][4]

Quick facts Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand, Prime Minister ...

Anutin has been a member of several political parties such as the National Development Party, Thai Rak Thai Party and is currently the leader of the Bhumjaithai Party.[5]

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Early life and family

Nicknamed Noo (Thai: หนู; literally: Rattus), Anutin is the son of Chavarat Charnvirakul, former Minister of the Interior in the government of Abhisit Vejjajiva. His family is of Thai Chinese descent with ancestry from Guangdong.[6] His first marriage was to Satannuch Charnvirakul and has two children. His second marriage is to Sasitorn Charnvirakul. Anutin completed secondary education at Assumption College and higher education in engineering from Hofstra University in 1989.[7]

Anutin is heir to a major construction company fortune. His family's company, Sino-Thai Engineering and Construction PCL, built several government mega-projects such as Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport.[8] An engineer, Anutin served as president of Sino-Thai.[9]

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Political career

In 1996, he entered politics by becoming adviser to Prachuap Chaiyasan (the Minister of Foreign Affairs) and served as Deputy Minister of Public Health from 2004 to 2005 and Deputy Minister of Commerce in 2004. He was then banned from political office for five years due to his membership of the Thai Rak Thai Party.[9][10] Anutin then joined the Bhumjai Thai Party in 2012 after the expiration of the ban and was elected as the leader of the Bhumjai Thai Party on 14 October 2012.[11]

In the 2019 Thai general election, he was the Bhumjai Thai Party's candidate for prime minister.[10]

Anutin blamed Westerners for outbreaks of COVID-19 in Thailand during the COVID-19 pandemic and made a series of derogatory remarks toward foreigners on Twitter.[12][13][14][15] He initially said that it was not his account and he did not make the posts, but he later apologised for them.[16]

Anutin has been a leading proponent of medical marijuana.[17] In May 2022 he said his ministry would give away 1 million cannabis plants in June 2022 to Thai households for license-free cultivation.[18]

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Royal decorations

Anutin has received the following royal decorations in the Honours System of Thailand:

References

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