Chalerm Yubamrung (, , ; born 10 June 1947) is a Thai politician. He was a Member of Parliament representing 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 Deputy Prime Ministers of

Yingluck Shinawatra Yingluck Shinawatra (, , ; born 21 June 1967) is a Thai businesswoman, politician and a member of the Pheu Thai Party who was the 28th prime minister of Thailand from 2011 to 2014. Yingluck was Thailand's first female prime minister and its yo ...

from 2011 to 2013. His past political appointments include floor leader of the Pheu Thai Party, brief terms as Health Minister under

Somchai Wongsawat Somchai Wongsawat (, ; born 31 August 1947) is a Thai politician who briefly served as the prime minister of Thailand in 2008. He is a former executive member of the People's Power Party (PPP) whose political rights were disenfranchised by ...

, Interior Minister under

Samak Sundaravej Samak Sundaravej (, , ; 13 June 1935 – 24 November 2009) was a Thai politician who briefly served as the Prime Minister of Thailand and Minister of Defence in 2008, as well as the leader of the People's Power Party in 2008. Early life and fa ...

, Justice Minister under

Banharn Silpa-archa Banharn Silpa-archa (, , ; , '' mǎdéxiáng''; 19 August 1932 – 23 April 2016) was a Thai politician who served as the Prime Minister of Thailand from 1995 to 1996. Banharn made a fortune in the construction business before he became a Memb ...

, and

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

from 2009 to 2011.

Family life

Chalerm was born at Bang Bon,

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

. He is married to Lamnao Yubamrung (), an auxiliary judge of Thailand's juvenile court. They have three sons: Artharn, Wanchalerm and Duangchalerm. In 2001 Duangchalerm was arraigned for murder of a police officer. After fleeing to Malaysia, he returned and handed himself in. He was released from jail on bail terms in 2003, and finally acquitted as the court considered the evidence insufficient and the witnesses accounts contradictory. Chalerm's younger brother, Nawarat Yubamrung (), is a politician, serving several terms as a member of the Bangkok Metropolitan Council.

Education

Chalerm graduated from the Royal Thai Police Academy. He reached the rank of police captain, before he resigned his commission to go into private business. He later received a

doctor's degree A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''Licentiate (degree), licentia docendi' ...

in law from the open-admissions

Ramkhamhaeng University Ramkhamhaeng University (RU; , ) is Thailand's largest public university. It was named in honour of King Ramkhamhaeng, one of the 5 children of Por Khun Sri-Intharathitaya and Nang Sueng, who was believed to have created the Thai alphabet and ...

Political career

Chalerm first entered politics as an MP with the Democrat Party. In 1985 he formed his own party, the

Mass Party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or polic ...

. Its power base was in western

, especially Phasi Charoen and Bang Bon Districts. Chalerm won several consecutive MP election bids, with the exception of the first election of 1992. He served as Minister for Office of the Prime Minister under

Chatichai Choonhavan Chatichai Choonhavan (; , ; 5 April 1920 – 6 May 1998) was a Thai army officer, diplomat and politician. From 1986 to 1991, he was the chairman of the Thai Nation Party and served as the Prime Minister of Thailand from August 1988 until the 1 ...

, overseeing the Mass Communications Organization of Thailand. He was accused of press interference and had ongoing conflicts with the military, to the point that he was cited by the coup-makers as one of the reasons for the 1991 military coup d'état. In the wake of the coup Chalerm was among the politicians accused of "unusual wealth", and had 32 million baht in assets seized. He fled Thailand to live in Sweden and Denmark until the political situation cooled down. After returning to Thailand, Chalerm allied his Mass Party with the

Thai Nation Party Thai Nation Party, or Chart Thai Party (, ) was a Conservatism, conservative political party in Thailand. It was dissolved by the Constitutional Court of Thailand on December 2, 2008, along with the People's Power Party (Thailand), People's Power P ...

, which led the opposition during the first

Chuan Leekpai Chuan Leekpai MPCh MVM ThChW (, , ; ; born 28 July 1938) is a Thai politician who served two terms as the prime minister of Thailand, from 1992 to 1995, and from 1997 to 2001. He is also the former president of the National Assembly of Tha ...

government. Chalerm played an important role in the 1995 debates regarding a censure motion against then-Agriculture Minister Suthep Thaugsuban for his role in the Sor Por Kor 4-01 () land reform scandal. These debates resulted in PM Chuan dissolving parliament to avoid a no-confidence vote, and ultimately in the rise of a Thai Nation Party-led government with

as prime minister. Chalerm was appointed justice minister in this cabinet, serving from 13 July 1995 to 24 November 1996. In 1997, Chalerm dissolved the Mass Party to combine with the

New Aspiration Party The New Aspiration Party () is a political party in Thailand. The party was established in 1990 by General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh after his retirement as Commander-In-Chief of the Royal Thai Army. This party won the elections of 1996 and formed ...

(NAP) of Prime Minister

Chavalit Yongchaiyudh Chavalit Yongchaiyudh (, , ; born 15 May 1932), also known as "Big Jiew" (, , ), is a Thai politician and retired army officer, he served as the prime minister of Thailand from 1996 to 1997. From 1986 to 1990, he was the Commander-in-chief of ...

. When in 2002, the NAP merged into the

Thai Rak Thai Party 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 ...

of the new prime minister

Thaksin Shinawatra Thaksin Shinawatra (, ; born 26 July 1949) is a Thai businessman and politician who was the 23rd prime minister of Thailand from 2001 to 2006. Since 2009 he has also been a citizen of Montenegro. Thaksin founded the mobile phone operator A ...

, Chalerm did not follow this path, but revived his Mass Party. In 2004 he ran for the office of Governor of Bangkok as an independent, finishing fourth with some 165,000 votes. In the 2007 general election Chalerm joined the People's Power Party and was again elected MP. On 6 February 2008 he joined the

cabinet as

Ministry of Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, th ...

, serving until Samak's disqualification from politics. He served in the cabinet of the short-lived

government as Minister of Public Health. From 2009 to 2011 he was the

floor leader A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. They are thei ...

of the

in the House of Representatives and, as Pheu Thai was the main opposition at that time,

against the government of

Abhisit Vejjajiva Abhisit Vejjajiva (; , , ; born 3 August 1964) is a Thai politician who was the 27th prime minister of Thailand from 2008 to 2011. He was the leader of the Democrat Party from 2005 until he resigned following the party's weak performance in t ...

. After Pheu Thai won the 2011 elections, Chalerm was appointed Deputy Prime Minister under

, on 9 August 2011. During a cabinet reshuffle in July 2013, he lost the post of deputy prime minister and was appointed minister of labour instead. Chalerm reportedly considered this change as a demotion. On the night of 22 May 2014, military officers arrested him during the events of the

2014 Thai coup d'état On 22 May 2014, the Royal Thai Armed Forces, led by General Prayut Chan-o-cha, the commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Army, launched a coup d'état, the twelfth since the country's first coup in 1932, against the caretaker government follow ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yubamrung, Chalerm 1947 births Living people Chalerm Yubamrung Chalerm Yubamrung Chalerm Yubamrung Chalerm Yubamrung Chalerm Yubamrung Chalerm Yubamrung Chalerm Yubamrung Chalerm Yubamrung Chalerm Yubamrung Chalerm Yubamrung Chalerm Yubamrung Chalerm Yubamrung Chalerm Yubamrung Chalerm Yubamrung Chalerm Yubamrung