Suriya Juangroongruangkit (; ; born 10 December 1954) is a Thai politician who has served as the

Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand The deputy prime minister of Thailand (, ) is a ministerial position within the government of Thailand. Several deputy prime ministers can be appointed and serve concurrently. Such appointments are usually made by the Prime Minister of Thailand ...

and Minister of Transport since April 2024 and September 2023 respectively. He served his first term as the Deputy Prime Minister from August 2005 to September 2006 and as the Minister of Transport from October 2002 to August 2005. He previously also served as the Minister of Industry for multiple times, Deputy Minister of Industry and Member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

. He is a member of the

Pheu Thai Party The Pheu Thai Party (PT or PTP; , ) is a major conservative populist list of political parties in Thailand, political party in Thailand. It is the third incarnation of the Thai Rak Thai Party, a political party founded by former Prime Minister ...

and was one of the leaders of the

Palang Pracharath Party Palang Pracharath Party (, , ; ) is a Thai right-wing conservative civil-military political party with ties to the National Council for Peace and Order, the military junta that ruled the country after the 2014 coup. It was established in 2018 by ...

as well as the

Thai Rak Thai The Thai Rak Thai Party (TRT; , , ; "Thais Love Thais Party") was a list of political parties in Thailand, Thai political party founded in 1998. From 2001 to 2006, it was the ruling party under its founder, Prime Minister of Thailand, Prime Mini ...

party.

Early life and career

Suriya Juangroongruangkit was born on 10 December 1954 in Bangkok to

Thai Chinese Thai Chinese (also known as Chinese Thais, Sino-Thais) are persons of Chinese people, Chinese descent in Thailand. Thai Chinese are the largest mixed group in the country and the largest overseas Chinese community in the world with a popul ...

ancestry. he attended Triam Udom Suksa School, Phaya Thai, and studied at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, where he received a bachelor of science in manufacturing engineering in 1978. After working for various car companies in Thailand, he was appointed transport minister on 3 October 2002. On 11 March 2005 he started his second term in office. In 2003, Suriya paid $95,200 USD for a lucky license plate number for his son's car: 9999. He is the uncle of

Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit (, ; born 25 November 1978) is a Thai businessman, politician, and activist who served as the leader of the Future Forward Party from 2018 to 2020. From 2002 to 2018, he was the vice president of the Thai Summit ...

Political career

When Suriya was a member of the Thai Rak Thai, he served as the secretary-general of the party. As part of the Palang Pracharath party, he was an influential member of the Sam Mitr faction. Under Prime-minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, he served as the Minister of Industry. At the beginning of 2023, there were rumours that both Suriya and Somsak Thepsuthin would defect from the Palang Pracharath party to Pheu Thai. They then informed the party's leader

Prawit Wongsuwon Prawit Wongsuwon (, , ; born 11 August 1945) is a Thai politician and retired army officer who served as the First Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand, deputy prime minister from 2014 to 2023, Ministry of Defence (Thailand), Minister of Defence fro ...

of their intention to remain and run in the House of Representative elections. However, on 23 March 2023, Suriya and Somsak, along with Suirya's wife Anongwan joined the Pheu Thai party.

Royal decorations

Suriya has received the following royal decorations in the

Honours System An order is a visible honour awarded by a sovereign state, monarch, dynastic house or organisation to a person, typically in recognition of individual merit, that often comes with distinctive insignia such as collars, medals, badges, and sash ...

of Thailand: * 2002 - Knight Grand Cordon of the Most Exalted

Order of the White Elephant __NOTOC__ The Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant (; ) is an order (decoration), order of Thailand. It was established in 1861 by King Mongkut, Rama IV of the Thailand, Kingdom of Siam. Along with the Order of the Crown of Thailand, it is r ...

* 2001 - Knight Grand Cordon of The Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand * 1973 - Serving Free People Medal

References

External links

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泰国华裔地位高出过好几任总理真正的一等公民
Suriya Juangroongruangkit Suriya Juangroongruangkit 1954 births Living people Suriya Juangroongruangkit Suriya Juangroongruangkit Suriya Juangroongruangkit Suriya Juangroongruangkit Suriya Juangroongruangkit Suriya Juangroongruangkit {{Thailand-politician-stub Suriya Juangroongruangkit Suriya Juangroongruangkit