Anutin’s Victory Gives the Green Light for Grey Capital in Thailand
Photo: East Asia Forum
In an article for East Asia Forum, Greg Raymond asserts that by tracing Anutin Charnvirakul's route to power, we can get a sense of where Thailand might go following the recent election.
The Pullman King Power is a luxury hotel in a leafy Bangkok soi and a favoured dealmaking location for Thai politicians, including the winner of the 8 February 2026 election, Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul. Locals call it ‘Bhumjaithai headquarters’, and its history explains much about Anutin, his route to power and what his prime ministership means for Thailand.
When magnate Vichai Raksriaksorn established the hotel in 2007, he reportedly reserved a suite for Bhumjaithai Party founder and provincial politician Newin Chidchop. As a minister in former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s cabinet from 2001–05, Newin had gifted Vichai a monopoly over retail at Thailand’s Suvarnabhumi Airport — the suite was a small acknowledgement of that fact.
Newin’s dealmaking and backroom influence on Thai politics since the early 2000s has been extraordinary. Under this dynastic ‘godfather’ (‘jao por’) from the northeastern province of Buriram, Anutin learnt to favour pragmatism over principle and patronage over policy. Newin, who has been accused of vote-buying and violence in his early electoral success, later left his party at the time, Chart Thai, to join Thaksin’s Thai Rak Thai Party. In 2008, he switched sides to the royalist-military political establishment, bringing his bloc of votes to former adversaries the Democrats and helping bring former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to power.
Under Anutin, Bhumjaithai’s allegiance to the palace has remained firm and politically rewarding. As health minister in former prime minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha’s government, Anutin oversaw Thailand’s COVID-19 vaccine procurement strategy, including a deal between the monarchy-linked Siam Bioscience and AstraZeneca, resulting in a delayed and botched vaccine rollout and thousands of unnecessary deaths.
