Puttipong Punnakanta, also written as Buddhipongse Punnakanta ( th, พุทธิพงษ์ ปุณณกันต์; born 20 November 1968) is a Thai politician. He served as Minister of Digital Economy and Society in the second cabinet of Prime Minister

Prayut Chan-o-cha Prayut Chan-o-cha (sometimes spelled Prayuth Chan-ocha; th, ประยุทธ์ จันทร์โอชา, ; born 21 March 1954) is a Thai politician and retired Royal Thai Army, army officer who has served as the Prime Minister of T ...

from 10 July 2019 until he was removed from office. In February 2021, he was found guilty of insurrection during protests that led to the 2014 coup d'état. He was released from prison on bail, later in February 2021, which stands in contrast to his sentence still standing at a prison term of seven years.

Early life and education

Puttipong was born on 20 November 1968 in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, USA. He was nicknamed Bee, the eldest child of Dr.Med. Lurporn and Darika Punnakanta. He graduated from the

Kasetsart University Laboratory School Kasetsart University Laboratory School, Center for Educational Research and Development ( th, โรงเรียนสาธิตแห่งมหาวิทยาลัยเกษตรศาสตร์ ศูนย์วิจัยแ� ...

. He received a Bachelor of Economics from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

, United States in 1992 and he received a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from

EU Business School EU Business School is a private business school with campuses in Geneva and Montreux (Switzerland), Barcelona (Spain), and Munich (Germany). It is a member of OMNES Education , OMNES Education Group since 2022. History EU Business School wa ...

Montreux Montreux (, , ; frp, Montrolx) is a Swiss municipality and town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps. It belongs to the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, and has a population of approximat ...

, Switzerland in 1996. Then he returned to work as an assistant project manager of Rajthanee Group and served as an Investment Promotion Officer in

Thailand Board of Investment The Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) or ''The Office of the Board of Investment'' is an agency of the Government of Thailand. Its mission is to promote foreign investment in Thailand by providing information, services, and incentives to interes ...

(BOI).

Political careers

In the 2001 election, Puttipong was running for election on behalf of the Democrat Party in Phaya Thai District. While

Apirak Kosayothin Apirak Kosayodhin ( th, อภิรักษ์ โกษะโยธิน; , born March 30, 1961) is a former Thailand, Thai business executive and former governor of Bangkok. In the 2004 Bangkok gubernatorial election, gubernatorial elections ...

was the Bangkok governor (2004-2008), he was appointed to the position of Bangkok Spokesperson, he is the first person to accept this position snd later was appointed deputy governor of Bangkok to overseeing education and social development, sports and tourism and the commercial aspect of Bangkok. In 2010, he was appointed to the position of Assistant Minister of Industry and Deputy Spokesman of the Prime Minister's Office In the government of Abhisit Vejjajiva, in conjunction with his tenure as Executive Director of the Democratic Party. In the Thai 2013–2014 Thai political crisis, Puttipong was one of 9 Democrat Party MPs who resigned from their membership and executive committee and became one of the leaders of the

People's Democratic Reform Committee The People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) or People's Committee for Absolute Democracy with the King as Head of State (PCAD) was a reactionary umbrella political pressure group in Thailand. Its aim was to remove the influence of former pre ...

to protest

Yingluck Shinawatra Yingluck Shinawatra ( th, ยิ่งลักษณ์ ชินวัตร, , ; ; born 21 June 1967), nicknamed Pou ( th, ปู, , , meaning "crab"), is a Thai businesswoman, politician and a member of the Pheu Thai Party who became the Pri ...

government. In 2018, he joined the government of

as Deputy Secretary-General of the Prime Minister (Political) and in October of the same year, he was appointed to serve as a spokesperson for the Prime Minister's Office. In February 2019, Puttipong resigned from the position of the political office to run for election in the name of the Palang Pracharat Party. Later he was appointed Minister of Digital Economy and Society. On 24 February 2021, the Criminal Court sentenced Puttipong to imprisonment for seven years, resulting in him immediate termination as the Minister of Digital Economy and Society.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Punnakanta, Puttipong Living people 1968 births Puttipong Punnakanta Puttipong Punnakanta Puttipong Punnakanta Puttipong Punnakanta Puttipong Punnakanta Ohio State University alumni Puttipong Punnakanta