Anutin Charnvirakul ( th, อนุทิน ชาญวีรกูล, ; born 13 September 1966 in Bangkok) is a Thai politician. , he is a

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 is also the

Minister of Public Health The Minister for Public Health and Women's Health is a junior ministerial post in the Scottish Government. The minister is not a member of the Scottish Cabinet, however, they report to the Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care ...

. Notably, he is the prominent public figure in charge of managing the COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand.

Early life and family

Nicknamed ''Noo'' ( th, หนู; literally: Rattus), Anutin is the son of

Chavarat Charnvirakul Chavarat Charnvirakul ( th, ชวรัตน์ ชาญวีรกูล, , ; born 7 June 1936 in Bangkok) is a Thai politician. He had served as an Acting Prime Minister of Thailand as a result of the 2008 Thai political crisis. Educat ...

, former Minister of the Interior in the government of Abhisit Vejjajiva. He was first married to Satannuch Charnvirakul and has two children. His second marriage is to Sasitorn Charnvirakul. Anutin completed secondary education at

Assumption College Assumption College may refer to these educational institutions: Australia * Assumption College, Kilmore, Victoria * Assumption College, Warwick, Queensland Canada * Assumption University (Windsor, Ontario) (formerly Assumption College) * Assumpt ...

and higher education in engineering from

Hofstra University Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of Ne ...

in 1989. Anuthin is heir to a major construction company fortune. His family's company, Sino-Thai Engineering and Construction PCL, built several government mega-projects such as Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. An engineer, Anuthin served as president of Sino-Thai. He has over the years been a member of many political parties such as the National Development Party,

Thai Rak Thai Party The Thai Rak Thai Party (TRT; th, พรรคไทยรักไทย, , ; "Thais Love Thais Party") was a Thai political party founded in 1998. From 2001 to 2006, it was the ruling party under its founder, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawat ...

and as leader of the

Bhumjaithai Party Bhumjaithai Party (BJT; th, พรรคภูมิใจไทย, , ; 'Thai Pride Party') was founded on 5 November 2008, in anticipation of the 2 December 2008 Constitutional Court of Thailand ruling that dissolved its "de facto predecesso ...

Political career

In 1996, he entered politics by becoming adviser to Prachuap Chaiyasan (the Minister of Foreign Affairs) and served as Deputy Minister of Public Health from 2004 to 2005 and Deputy Minister of Commerce in 2004. He was then banned from political office for five years due to his membership of the

. Anutin then joined the Bhumjaithai Party in 2012 after the expiration of the ban and was elected as the leader of the Bhumjaithai Party on 14 October 2012. In the

2019 Thai general election Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

, he was the Bhumjaithai Party's candidate for prime minister. Anutin has been a leading proponent of medical marijuana. On May 8, he said his ministry would give away 1 million cannabis plants in June 2022 to Thai households for license-free cultivation.

Controversy

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Anutin made a series of derogatory comments disparaging foreigners.https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2020/03/13/minister-anutin-white-western-foreigners-tourists-public-face-masks/ Anutin wrote on a Twitter account, "...all you see are ''farangs'' ('Westerners'). They flee their own countries for the safety of Thailand. In Chiang Mai, 90% of Thais are wearing face masks, although none of the ''farangs'' are wearing masks." He went on to add, "This is the reason our country is being infected y the SARS-CoV-2 virus We should be more careful of the ''farang'' than other Asians. At the moment it is winter in Europe and ''farang'' come to Thailand to hide from the ovid-19disease. Many ''farang'' dress dirtily and don't shower. All haihosts have to be very careful." Following a negative public reaction to Anutin's outburst, the Twitter account was deleted, after attracting hundreds of comments across various media platforms, criticizing his ill-considered remarks, with some commentators pointing out that Thailand did not appreciate the contribution made to its economy by foreign tourism. Pressed on the matter, Anutin later claimed that he did not know who the Twitter account belonged to and that he did not post the comments, although he later apologised for them. The Thai language news website ''Khaosod'' covered the incident in detail, showing a portion of the original comments before the Twitter account was deleted. A month prior to his March outburst, in February 2020, Anutin was criticised for remarking that foreigners should be kicked out of Thailand when he saw some who were not wearing face masks at an event at the Siam BTS station in Bangkok. Later, hearing advice from the US Surgeon General, Dr Jerome Adams, that the wearing of masks was unnecessary for the uninfected, Anutin changed his opinion.

Royal decorations

Anutin has received the following royal decorations in the Honours System of Thailand: * Knight Grand Cordon (Special Class) of The Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand * Knight Grand Cordon (Special Class) of the Most Exalted Order of the White Elephantราชกิจจานุเบกษ�
ประกาศสำนักนายกรัฐมนตรี เรื่อง พระราชทานเครื่องราชอิสริยาภรณ์ (ชั้นต่ำกว่าสายสะพาย ชั้นสายสะพาย สมาชิกวุฒิสภา เนื่องในวโรกาสพระราชพิธีเฉลิมพระชนมพรรษา วันที่ ๕ ธันวาคม ๒๕๓๗)
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charnvirakul, Anutin 1966 births Anutin Charnvirakul Anutin Charnvirakul Anutin Charnvirakul Anutin Charnvirakul Living people Anutin Charnvirakul Anutin Charnvirakul Anutin Charnvirakul Anutin Charnvirakul Cantonese people Anutin Charnvirakul Anutin Charnvirakul