Two-thirds of Thailand cabinet are millionaires

Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra is second richest minister with net assets worth £11m, reveals anti-corruption watchdog Almost two-thirds of Thailand’s cabinet are millionaires, with the prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, second on the rich list. The national counter-corruption commission released the figures for the 36 ministers from asset declarations, which are mandatory for cabinet members. Yingluck declared net assets of 541m baht (£11m), including seven Hermès handbags, with the most expensive one worth 350,000 baht. She is the youngest sister of the former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a former telecoms tycoon whose fortune was estimated by Forbes magazine at $600m. He was ousted by a military coup in 2006 after being accused of corruption, and part of his fortune, once estimated at more than $2bn, was seized by Thai authorities. The wealthiest in the cabinet is the science and technology minister, Plodprasop Suraswadi, with declared net assets worth 963.5m baht. He has spent much of his career in government service in areas related to natural resources, including as director of the fisheries and forestry departments. Yingluck came to office in August after leading her pro-Thaksin Pheu Thai party to a landslide election victory. Her assets also include eight cars – the most expensive being a Porsche Cayman – and a residence with a football pitch. Yingluck’s predecessor as prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, declared assets worth 54.4m baht on leaving office, up from the 51.8m baht he declared when he came to power in December 2008. Thailand Thaksin Shinawatra guardian.co.uk

Posted by on September 28, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.