Abhisit Vejjajiva

Abhisit Vejjajiva (อภิสิทธิ์ เวชชาชีวะ,, ; born 3 August 1964) is a Thai politician who was the prime minister of Thailand from 2008 to 2011.

While studying in England, he went to Thailand several times, including a gap year trip in 1983 with classmate and future UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to the resort city of Chiang Mai and the island of Phuket.

After moving to Thailand, he received a bachelor's degree in law from Thailand's Ramkhamhaeng University, and taught at Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy and Thammasat University Faculty of Economics.

He is fluent in both his mother tongue and English also having both dual Thai and British citizenship.

Abhisit was elected to the Thai House of Representatives at the age of 27 and served as minister to the Office of the Prime Minister under Chuan Leekpai from 1997 to 2001.

He narrowly lost the 2003 Democrat Party leadership election, but unopposedly became the party's chairman two years later following the Democrats' defeat in the 2005 general election.

He was the leader of the Democrat Party from 2005 until he resigned following the party's weak performance in the 2019 election.

Abhisit was appointed prime minister of Thailand on 17 December 2008, after the Constitutional Court of Thailand removed Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat from office.

At age 44, he was the country's youngest prime minister in more than 60 years.

Abhisit became premier at a time of global economic turmoil and rising domestic political tensions.

As prime minister, he promoted a "People's Agenda", which focused primarily on policies affecting the living conditions of Thailand's rural and working class citizens.

He administered two economic stimulus packages: a US$40 billion, three-year infrastructure improvement plan, and a more than US$3 billion program of cash subsidies and handouts.

Abhisit's government faced major protests in April 2009 and April–May 2010.

The military's crackdowns on protesters left many dead.

Abhisit launched a reconciliation plan to investigate the crackdown, but the work of the investigation commission was hampered by military and government agencies.

The Thai Army clashed with Cambodian troops numerous times from 2009 to 2010 in the bloodiest fighting in over two decades.

The South Thailand insurgency escalated during Abhisit's government, and reports of torture and human rights violations increased.

By 2010, the stock market and the value of the baht had rebounded to their highest levels since the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis.

Human Rights Watch called Vejjajiva "the most prolific censor in recent Thai history" and Freedom House downgraded Thailand's rating of media freedom to "not free".

Abhisit also advocated for stronger anti-corruption measures, although several members of his Cabinet resigned due to corruption scandals and parts of his economic stimulus packages were criticised for instances of alleged corruption.

Having resigned the party leadership after the defeat the Democrats suffered in the parliamentary elections of 2011, Abhisit was re-elected as leader at a party assembly.

His dual citizenship became a topic for the Thai parliamentary debates in early-2011.

He is of Chinese descent and a seventh generation overseas Hakka with ancestry in China's Guangdong province.

Abhisit is married to Pimpen Sakuntabhai, his classmate at the Chulalongkorn University Demonstration elementary school, who is a former dentist and is now a lecturer at the Department of Mathematics at Chulalongkorn University.

They have two children: Prang Vejjajiva (daughter) and Pannasit Vejjajiva (son).

Pannasit has had autism since birth.

After his majority, the Central Juvenile and Family Court adjudged him quasi-incompetent and placed him under the guardianship of Abhisit, his father, as from 3 September 2012.

Abhisit also has two sisters: child psychiatrist Alisa Wacharasindhu and author Ngarmpun Vejjajiva.

As leader of the second largest party in the House of Representatives, he was also leader of the opposition – a position he held from 2005 to 2008 and again after his premiership until his party's en masse resignation from the House on 8 December 2013.

As of 2023, Abhisit is the last prime minister to not come from the military or be related to the Shinawatra family.

Born in England to Thai parents, Abhisit also holds British citizenship.

He attended Eton College and earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Oxford.

After his graduation he taught as an economics lecturer at Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy and Thammasat University.

In 2018, the Democrats held a contest for party leader in preparation for the upcoming election.

Abhisit was re-elected party leader, beating former PDRC leader, Warong Dechgitvigrom, by approximately 10,000 votes.

However, after a poor showing in the 2019 election, Abhisit resigned as party leader.

Mark Abhisit Vejjajiva was born in Princess Mary Maternity Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, United Kingdom.

He attended Chulalongkorn University Demonstration School as a child.

He studied in England from the age of eleven, where he attended prep school at Scaitcliffe and then Eton College.

Abhisit earned a first-class honours bachelor's degree in philosophy, politics and economics (PPE), and a master's degree in economics from St John's College, Oxford.