Thailand’s new prime minister renews the legacy of her divisive father, Thaksin Shinawatra

BANGKOK (AP) — The election of Paetongtarn Shinawatra as Thailand’s prime minister represents a remarkable comeback for the political dynasty founded by her billionaire father, Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted by a military coup in 2006.

Paetongtarn, 37, a former executive in a hotel business run by her family, becomes the third close member of the Shinawatra clan to take the prime minister’s job. Thaksin’s sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, was Thailand’s first female prime minister from 2011 to 2014. An in-law, Somchai Wongsawat, also served briefly in 2008.

Although Thaksin was a vastly popular politician who handily won three elections, Thailand’s royalist establishment was disturbed that his populist policies appeared to threaten their status and that of the monarchy at the heart of Thai identity. Months of protests helped drive both him and Yingluck out of office and into exile.

Then last year, Thaksin alienated many of his old supporters with what looked like a self-serving deal with his former conservative foes. It allowed his return from exile and his party to form the new government, while sidelining the progressive Move Forward Party, which finished first in a national election but was seen by the establishment as a greater threat.

When Paetongtarn was on the campaign trail for the Thaksin-backed Pheu Thai party, she acknowledged her family ties but insisted she was not her father’s proxy. “It’s not the shadow of my dad. I am my dad’s daughter, always and forever, but I have my own decisions,” she told a reporter.

As she comes to power, however, there are no signs she has carved her own niche with ideas that would distinguish her policies from those endorsed by her party or her father, a smorgasbord of measures