Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra gives a press conference after winning the election. Photo by Nick Nostitz.
The election of Yingluck Shinawatra as Prime Minister of Thailand is a remarkable return to power for a political force that was forced out at the barrel of a gun in September 2006, write Andrew Walker and Nicholas Farrelly. Thaksin Shinawatra - and the multi-pronged political, commercial and social movement that bears his long-term imprimatur - has shown that when it comes to winning elections he is Thailand's best. His sister, Yingluck, will become Thailand's first female Prime Minister. Tonight's result is a remarkable return to power for a political force that was forced out at the barrel of a gun on the night of 19 September 2006. In the years since then it has been constantly disrupted by royalist, military and judicial interventions. With more than 100 of its leading figures banned from politics Pheua Thai has succeeded in solidly defeating the very best the venerable Democrat Party can pitch against it. Undiminished support for Thaksin's political machine sends a strong message, domestically and internationally: efforts to undermine him have been unsuccessful.
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