Thailand’s prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra on Friday assets worth over $400 million, which include watches worth around $5 million and luxury handbags priced over $2 million, news agency AFP reported.
Paetongtarn was compelled to declare her assets and liabilities to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).
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An NACC document was posted by local media outlets, revealing that she had assets greater than $400 million and also liabilities of nearly five billion baht, giving her a net worth of 8.9 billion baht ($258 million).
Out of 13.8 million Thai baht (around $400 million) in assets, she reportedly owns 217 designer handbags worth 76 million baht ($2 million) and 75 luxury watches valued around 162 million baht ($5 million).
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Her asset declaration also included investments worth 11 billion baht and another billion baht in deposits and cash. Her holdings included properties in London and Japan as well.
News agency AFP stated that the figures were accurate based on confirmation from an unnamed representative of the Pheu Thai party.
Thai prime minister Paetongtarn is the youngest daughter of telecom billionaire and ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. She became the fourth member of her family to take office in Thailand in the last 20 years when she took the top post in September.
Paaetongtarn’s father and former PM Thaksin, once owned Manchester City football club and has a net worth of $2.1 billion, making him Thailand’s 10th-richest person, AFP reported citing Forbes.
Even after he was ousted and exiled during a coup, his family has remained influential in the country. “In a nation without a fully functioning democracy, money plays a crucial role in political activities,” Yuttaporn Issarachai of Sukhothai Thammathirat University told AFP.
The political science professor also stated, “This has often been the justification for military interventions, with claims of a lack of transparency.”
Srettha Thavisin, who was PM before Paetongtarn took over, had also declared assets worth 985 million baht when he was asked to step down by Thailand’s constitutional court in August. At the start of his term, his assets were 1.02 billion baht, more than he had left at the end.
