Chalerm Yubamrung

Chalerm Yubamrung ( Thai เฉลิม อยู่ บำรุง , RTGS : Chaloem Yubamrung; born June 10, 1947 in Bangkok ) is a Thai politician of the Pheu-Thai party . From 2009 to 2011 he was group leader of the Pheu Thai and parliamentary opposition leader. From 2011 to 2013 he was Deputy Prime Minister, then Minister of Labor under Yingluck Shinawatra until May 2014 .

life and career

Chalerm Yubamrung pursued a career in the police force until he retired with the rank of captain to go into the private sector. He studied law at the Ramkhamhaeng University while working and received his doctorate through this.

He began his political career as an MP for the Democratic Party . In 1986 he resigned from it to found the Muanchon Party ("mass party"). He was repeatedly elected to parliament for them in his home constituency in western Bangkok. His party became part of the coalition government of Chatichai Choonhavan in 1988, and Chalerm became a Minister in the Prime Minister's Office. In this position he oversaw the Mass Communications Organization of Thailand , which regulated broadcasting and licensed private television programs. The government was overthrown in a military coup in 1991, allegedly because several ministers, including Chalerm, had enriched themselves and had become “unusually rich”. He temporarily left the country. In the government of Banharn Silpa-archa he was again a cabinet member from 1995 to 1996, this time as Minister of Justice. In 1997 he joined the New Hope party . In 2004 he ran for the office of governor of Bangkok as a now non-party member, but only came in fourth place.

In 2007 he became a member of the People's Power Party and interior minister in the government of Samak Sundaravej , then briefly health minister in the Somchai Wongsawat cabinet . In December 2008, the People's Power Party was banned by the Constitutional Court. But it was founded almost immediately under the name Pheu Thai Party. Chalerm became their parliamentary group leader and thus head of the parliamentary opposition against the government of Abhisit Vejjajiva .

After his party's election victory in 2011, the new Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra made him one of her four deputies. As part of a cabinet reshuffle in July 2013, he lost the position of Deputy Prime Minister and instead became Minister of Labor. He was reportedly dissatisfied with this change of position, which he perceived as a demotion. During the political crisis of 2013/14 , the Thai Constitutional Court removed Chalerm on May 7, 2014 - at the same time as Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

Chalerm is married and has three sons. One of them, Duangchalerm, was charged with murder in 2001 but was not convicted due to conflicting testimony.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Glen Lewis: Virtual Thailand. The Media and Cultural Politics in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. , Routledge, 2005, p. 27.
2. ^ David Murray: Angels and Devils. Thai Politics from February 1991 to September 1992, a Struggle for Democracy? White Orchid Press, Bangkok 1996, pp. 60, 209.
3. ↑ Assembly LI, ( Memento of the original from March 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. History of the Cabinet, The Secretary of the Cabinet.  
4. ↑ Chalerm 'unhappy' as Cabinet jobs allocated. In: The Nation , July 3, 2013.
5. ^ Robert Horn: The Untouchables. In: Time Magazine , Nov. 26, 2001
6. ↑ Pichai Chuensuksawadi: The reinstatement of Duang Yubamrung and more of the same. In: Bangkok Post , April 23, 2008.

Note on Thai names : This article addresses people by their first name.