Kanchana Silpa-archa ( th, กัญจนา ศิลปอาชา, ; born 15 February 1960) is a Thai politician who is currently serving as the leader of the

Chartthaipattana Party The Chartthaipattana Party ( th, พรรคชาติไทยพัฒนา ''Phak Chat Thai Phatthana'', (CP) ''Thai Nation Development Party'') was founded on 18 April 2008, in anticipation of the 2 December 2008, Constitutional Court of ...

. She previously served as Deputy Minister of the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

from 1999 to 2001.

Early life

Kanchana was born on 15 February 1960 at

Chao Phraya Yommarat Hospital Chao Phraya Yommarat Hospital () is the main hospital of Suphan Buri Province, Thailand and is classified under the Ministry of Public Health as a regional hospital. It is an affiliated hospital of the Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mah ...

in Suphan Buri, Thailand. She is one of the three children of former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Banharn Silpa-archa Banharn Silpa-archa (also spelled ''Banhan'', ''Silapa''-, ''Sinlapa''-, -''acha''; th, บรรหาร ศิลปอาชา, , ; ; 19 August 1932 – 23 April 2016) was a Thai politician. He was the Prime Minister of Thailand from 199 ...

and

Jamsai Silpa-archa ''Khun Ying'' Jamsai Silpa-archa ( th, แจ่มใส ศิลปอาชา, , ; born 20 April 1934), née Lekhawat ( th, เลขวัต, ), is the widow of Banharn Silpa-archa, the 21st Prime Minister of Thailand and Thai Nation Party ...

. She is the niece of former Deputy Prime Minister

Chumpol Silpa-archa Chumpol Silpa-archa ( th, ชุมพล ศิลปอาชา, , ; 6 June 1940 – 21 January 2013) was a Thai politician who served in the government of Thailand as Minister of Tourism and Sports from 2008 to 2013; he was also Deputy Prim ...

. In 1996, she was dragged by her father, who was facing allegations of corruption and incompetence, while being interviewed by the media after she called for his resignation.

Education

Kanchana completed her lower secondary education at

Rajini School Rajini School ( th, โรงเรียนราชินี, , lit. "Queen's School") is a private girls' school in Thailand, and one of the oldest in the country. It was founded in 1904 by Queen Saovabha Phongsri as a replacement for the recen ...

and at

Triam Udom Suksa School Triam Udom Suksa School ( th, โรงเรียนเตรียมอุดมศึกษา, ; lit.'university-preparatory school') is a state school in central Bangkok, Thailand. It admits upper-secondary students (''mathayom'' 4–6, eq ...

for her higher secondary education. She graduated in 1981 with a with first-class honor in a bachelor's degree in statistics from the Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy from

Chulalongkorn University Chulalongkorn University (CU, th, จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย, ), nicknamed Chula ( th, จุฬาฯ), is a public and autonomous research university in Bangkok, Thailand. The university was originally fo ...

and went on to graduate in 1983 from a master's degree in business administration from

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

Political career

From 1995 to 2008, Kanchana was a member of the

Thai House of Representatives The House of Representatives ( th, สภาผู้แทนราษฎร; ; ) 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 constit ...

representing Suphan Buri Province. During

Chuan Leekpai Chuan Leekpai ( th, ชวน หลีกภัย, , ; ; born 28 July 1938) is a Thai politician who is the current President of the National Assembly of Thailand as well as the incumbent Speaker of the Thai House of Representatives. Previou ...

's second administration, she was appointed as Deputy Minister of the

. She also became a member of the National Legislative Assembly in 2006 after the coup d'etat. Upon the dissolution of

Thai Nation Party Thai Nation Party, or Chart Thai Party ( th, พรรคชาติไทย, ) was a 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 and ...

on 2 December 2008 by the

Constitutional Court of Thailand The Constitutional Court of the Kingdom of Thailand ( th, ศาลรัฐธรรมนูญ, , ) is an independent Thai court created by the 1997 Constitution with jurisdiction over the constitutionality of parliamentary acts, royal d ...

due to electoral fraud charges, she was one of the party executives who were banned to participate from Thai politics for five years. After the ban lapsed, she rejoined politics by filing her candidacy as the second party-list representative under

. On 26 October 2018,

convened to elect its new leader. Kanchana was nominated for the position alongside fellow party member Theera Wongsamut. However, Theera declined the nomination which paved the way for Kanchana to become the party's new leader. Prior to the convention, her brother Varawut Silpa-archa was speculated to lead the party.

References

External links

Kanchana Silpa-archa
on

website
Kanchana Silpa-archa
on

website {{DEFAULTSORT:Silpa-archa, Kanchana Kanchana Silpa-archa Kanchana Silpa-archa Kanchana Silpa-archa Kanchana Silpa-archa Kanchana Silpa-archa Kanchana Silpa-archa Kanchana Silpa-archa Wisconsin School of Business alumni 1960 births Living people Kanchana Silpa-archa Kanchana Silpa-archa