Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra declared more than $400 million in assets on Friday, her party said, including more than 200 designer handbags worth over $2 million and at least 75 luxury watches valued at almost $5 million.
She identified 13.8 billion baht ($400 million) in assets, a document posted on media websites showed.
Her investments were worth 11 billion baht and she had another billion baht in deposits and cash, her declaration said.
Her other assets included 75 watches valued at 162 million baht and 39 more timepieces, plus 217 handbags worth 76 million baht, as well as property in London and Japan among other holdings.
She also declared liabilities of nearly five billion baht, according to the NACC document posted by local media, giving her a net worth of 8.9 billion baht ($258 million).
According to her party, Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra announced more than $400 million in assets on Friday, including at least 75 expensive timepieces valued at nearly $5 million and more than 200 designer handbags valued at over $2 million.
Paetongtarn, the youngest daughter of former prime minister and telecom billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra, became the fourth member of the clan to head a Thai government in 20 years when she assumed office in September. When Paetongtarn took office at the age of 37, she also became Thailand’s youngest leader. She is currently 38 years old.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) required Paetongtarn to disclose her investments and debts.
According to a document made public on media websites, she found assets worth 13.8 billion baht ($400 million).
According to her declaration, she had 11 billion baht in investments and an additional billion baht in cash and deposits.
In addition, she had property in London and Japan, 39 additional timepieces, 75 watches worth 162 million baht, and 217 handbags worth 76 million baht.
According to the NACC document made public by local media, she also disclosed liabilities totaling almost five billion baht, making her net worth 8.9 billion baht ($258 million).
The accuracy of the numbers reported by Thai media was confirmed to AFP by a Pheu Thai Party representative.
With a net worth of $2.11 billion, her father and predecessor Thaksin, who formerly owned the Manchester City football club, is the 10th richest person in Thailand, according to Forbes.
Even in his years of exile after being overthrown in a coup, Thaksin’s family has maintained their influence. Thaksin entered politics using the money he made from his Shin Corp telecom empire. Thaksin was released from a police hospital last year after serving a one-year jail sentence for corruption and power abuse, according to the BBC.
The BBC reported that the billionaire telecom entrepreneur was the first prime minister in Thailand’s history to serve out the entire term of an elected government.
According to analysts, the kingdom has a long-standing relationship between wealth and power.
Yuttaporn Issarachai of Sukhothai Thammathirat University told AFP that “money plays a crucial role in political activities in a nation without a fully functioning democracy.”.
With allegations of a lack of transparency, this has frequently served as the rationale for military interventions. “.
