Premiership of Abhisit Vejjajiva

Abhisit Vejjajiva
Abhisit Vejjajiva in 2010.
Premiership of Abhisit Vejjajiva
17 December 2008 – 5 August 2011
MonarchBhumibol Adulyadej
Abhisit Vejjajiva
CabinetAbhisit cabinet
PartyDemocrat
Nominated byHouse of Representatives
Appointed byMonarch of Thailand
SeatGovernment House

Seal of the Prime Minister

Abhisit Vejjajiva was formally endorsed by King Bhumibol Adulyadej as Prime Minister of Thailand on 17 December 2008. Abhisit ascended to power during the 2007–2008 financial crisis.

Key appointments in Abhisit's government included PAD activist Kasit Piromya as Foreign Minister, construction tycoon Chaovarat Chanweerakul as Interior Minister, and investment banker and former Abhisit classmate Korn Chatikavanij as Finance Minister.[1] Massage parlor tycoon Pornthiva Nakasai was appointed Deputy Commerce Minister.

Abhisit's first act as prime minister was to send SMS texts to tens of millions of Thai mobile phone users. The message, signed "Your PM", asked people to help him solve the country's crisis. Interested phone users were asked to send back their postal codes, at a cost of three baht. Abhisit was criticized for violating privacy regulations in the mass SMS. The National Telecommunication Commission says that mobile phone service providers may not exploit client information, including phone numbers, without their consent. However, it did not pursue action against Abhisit.[2][3]

According to a survey by Assumption University's Abac Poll in May 2009, Abhisit received a 70% approval rating, the highest within the cabinet. The government's overall approval rating was 59% "rather much or much" satisfied and 9.4% "very much" satisfied. Overall the government was rated 6.5 out of 10 by a majority of respondents.[4] In a nationwide survey conducted 24–25 December 2010, by Bangkok University, the government's two years in power were rated 4.61 out of 10, with the PM's performance at 5.17.[5]

  1. ^ Asia One, Finance minister from Thai elite faces raft of economic woes, 21 December 2008
  2. ^ Bangkok Post, PM's text message an 'invasion of privacy'[permanent dead link‍], 19 December 2008
  3. ^ Asia News, [1] Archived 2016-02-03 at the Wayback Machine, 19 December 2009
  4. ^ The Nation Most satisfied with Abhisit govt, poll finds Archived 2012-10-08 at the Wayback Machine 29 May 2009
  5. ^ The Nation Poll gives government low marks 26 December 2010