Chavarat Charnvirakul (, , ; born 7 June 1936) is a Thai politician. He had served as an acting prime minister of Thailand as a result of the 2008 Thai political crisis. His family is of

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 ...

descent with ancestry from

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

Education

Chavarat graduated from

Thammasat University Thammasat University (TU; ; , ) is a public university, public research university in Thailand with campuses in the Tha Phra Chan area of Bangkok, Rangsit, Pattaya and Lampang Province. , Thammasat University has over 39,000 students enrolled in ...

in 1966 with a degree in

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

Political career

After spending many years in the public sector, he joined the government in 1994 as Deputy Minister of Finance, his tenure lasted till 1997. In 2008 he rejoined the government as Minister of Public Health and later

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 ...

. On 2 December 2008, the

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ru ...

ordered the dissolution of the People's Power Party and other coalition parties, at the same time banning their chief executives. The incumbent Prime Minister, Somchai Wongsawat, was then removed along with several other members of the Cabinet. Chavarat, however, was the only senior Cabinet figure who was not a party executive and was therefore the only viable candidate. Either the

House of Representatives of Thailand The House of Representatives (, , ) is the lower house of the National Assembly of Thailand, the legislative branch of the Thai government. The system of government of Thailand is that of a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democrac ...

had to confirm him as the new Prime Minister, or the new political grouping must vote for a new leader and submit his name for approval. There has been some questions - even a letter submitted to the

by Senators - concerning the legality of his temporary appointment as Prime Minister (even in a caretaker capacity). This is because the

2007 Constitution of Thailand The ''Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand, Buddhist Era 2550 (2007)'' (; ) was the constitution of Thailand which was in effect from 2007 to 2014. On 19 September 2006, the Royal Thai Armed Forces staged a 2006 Thai coup d'état, coup d'é ...

states that the Prime Minister must be a member of the House of Representatives; Chavarat was not an MP. Chavarat was replaced by

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 ...

on 15 December 2008. He was appointed Minister of Interior of Thailand in the Abhisit cabinet, a post which he held until the government's electoral defeat in 2011. On 14 February 2009, Chavarat became the leader of the Bhumjai Thai Party until 4 September 2012, in which he was succeeded by his son,

Anutin Charnvirakul Anutin Charnvirakul (, ; born 13 September 1966) is a Thai politician who has served as the Minister of Interior and Deputy Prime Minister since 2023. From 2019 to 2023 he was the Minister of Public Health in Prayut Chan-o-cha's government and ...

Royal decorations

* Knight Grand Cordon (Special Class) of The Most Noble

Order of the Crown of Thailand The Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand (; ) is a Thai order, established in 1869 by King Rama V of The Kingdom of Siam (now Thailand) for Thais, the royal family, governmental employees, and foreign dignitaries for their outstanding serv ...

* Knight Grand Cordon (Special Class) 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 ...

* Honorary Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE)ประกาศสำนักนายกรัฐมนตรี เรื่อง พระราชทานพระบรมราชานุญาตให้ประดับเครื่องราชอิสริยาภรณ์ต่างประเทศ
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charnvirakul, Chavarat 1936 births Chavarat Charnvirakul Chavarat Charnvirakul Cantonese people Chavarat Charnvirakul Chavarat Charnvirakul Living people Chavarat Charnvirakul Chavarat Charnvirakul Chavarat Charnvirakul Chavarat Charnvirakul Chavarat Charnvirakul Chavarat Charnvirakul Honorary commanders of the Order of the British Empire Chavarat Charnvirakul Chavarat Charnvirakul