Nattawut Saikua ( th, ณัฐวุฒิ ใสยเกื้อ; ; born June 4, 1975) is a Thai politician. He is the secretary-general and spokesman of the

United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship The United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) ( th, แนวร่วมประชาธิปไตยต่อต้านเผด็จการแห่งชาติ; นปช., alternatively translated as National Demo ...

("Red Shirts"), and a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for the

Pheu Thai Party The Pheu Thai Party (PTP; th, พรรคเพื่อไทย, lit=For Thais Party, , ) is the third incarnation of a Thai political party founded by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The Pheu Thai Party was founded on 20 Septemb ...

list. In 2008, he was spokesman for the

Somchai Wongsawat Somchai Wongsawat ( th, สมชาย วงศ์สวัสดิ์, ; born 31 August 1947) is a Thai politician who was the prime minister of Thailand in 2008 and a former executive member of the People's Power Party (PPP) whose polit ...

government. From January 2012 to May 2014, he served as Deputy Minister in

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 P ...

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

Education and family

Nattawut was born in Sichon District, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province. He has one older brother, Jettanan. Nattawut studied

communication studies Communication studies or communication science is an academic discipline that deals with processes of human communication and behavior, patterns of communication in interpersonal relationships, social interactions and communication in differen ...

at the Dhurakij Pundit University, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1998. Later, he attended the Master of Public and Private Management programme of the

National Institute of Development Administration The National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) th, สถาบันบัณฑิตพัฒนบริหารศาสตร์) is a public graduate university in Thailand under the Commission on Higher Education, the Mini ...

, graduating in 2005. He is married to Sirisakul Saikua, and they have one son and one daughter.

Orator and TV personality

Nattawut has a reputation as a stirring orator. Already as a high school student, he successfully participated in debating contests, including an appearance on Thai TV Channel 3. Later, he worked as a speech trainer. Nattawut gained fame on the Thai

television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, e ...

''Sapa Joke'' ("Joke Parliament") on

iTV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

, a show that travestied

Thai parliament The National Assembly of Thailand ( Abrv: NAT; th, รัฐสภา, , ) is the bicameral legislative branch of the government of Thailand. It convenes in the Sappaya-Sapasathan, Dusit District, Bangkok. The National Assembly was establis ...

and politics. He "dubbed" Trairong Suwankiri, who was the deputy leader of the Democrat Party.

Political career and activism

Nattawut joined the National Development Party in 2001 and moved to the

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 ...

(TRT) of Prime Minister

Thaksin Shinawatra Thaksin Shinawatra ( th, ทักษิณ ชินวัตร; ; ; Chinese: 丘達新; cnr, Taksin Šinavatra; born 26 July 1949), is a Thai businessman, politician and visiting professor. He served in the Thai Police from 1973 to 1987, ...

in 2005. Inside TRT, he formed a faction together with his "buddies" and political allies

Jatuporn Prompan Jatuporn Prompan ( th, จตุพร พรหมพันธุ์; ; ; born October 5, 1965) is a Thai politician and activist. He is one of the core leaders of the National United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), also known as ...

and

Veera Musikapong Veerakarn Musikapong ( th, วีระกานต์ มุสิกพงศ์, ), born Veera Musikapong ( th, วีระ มุสิกพงศ์) on 24 May 1948 in Ranot, Songkhla Province, is a Thai politician. Veera was government sp ...

. After the overthrow of Thaksin and the forced dissolution of TRT, he represented the People's Power Party in the 2007 Thai elections. He became Deputy Spokesman for the

Samak Sundaravej Samak Sundaravej ( th, สมัคร สุนทรเวช, , ; 13 June 1935 – 24 November 2009) was a Thai politician who briefly served as the Prime Minister of Thailand and Minister of Defense in 2008, as well as the leader of the Peo ...

government on February 6, 2008. On October 7, 2008, he became the spokesman for the

government. Nattawut, alongside Jatuporn and Veera, is one of the leaders of the United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), colloquially called the "Red Shirts". The UDD is a political pressure group that campaigned and fiercely protested against the 2006 Thai coup d'état, which overthrew the government of

, against the military-installed government and the government of Abhisit Vejjajiva. Nattawut and his friends had a role in the initiation of the pro-Thaksin PTV channel. Moreover, they hosted the political talkshow Truth Today. Nattawut co-organised the mass protests in 2009 and, together with the other UDD heads, led the "Red Shirts" in the fierce protests from March to May 2010 that led to the bloody military crackdowns of April and May. Nattawut,

and other Red-Shirt leaders surrendered themselves to police to prevent further bloodshed during the violent military crackdown on 19 May 2010. Afterwards, Nattawut was prosecuted on terrorism charges. He was released on bail terms on 22 February 2011. At the 2011 Thai general election Nattawut Saikua was elected Member of Parliament on the winning

list. When Prime Minister

reshuffled her cabinet on 18 January 2012, Nattawut was named Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives. After the Cabinet reshuffle on 28 October 2012, he changed to the Ministry of Commerce. He lost his government office during the

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

on 22 May 2014. After the coup, he was held in military detention for seven days, alongside other "Red Shirt" leaders.

Controversies

In a 2010 speech, Nattawut insinuated that Jarungjit Thikara, a lady-in-waiting of Queen Sirikit, ordered the army to crack down on the 2010 protests on the queen's behalf. On 22 June 2013, a music video surfaced on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

featuring Nattawut singing about and promoting local grocery stores. The video received harsh criticism, with some viewers stating it was a waste of government spending.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saikua, Nattawut

Nattawut Saikua Nattawut Saikua ( th, ณัฐวุฒิ ใสยเกื้อ; ; born June 4, 1975) is a Thai politician. He is the secretary-general and spokesman of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship ("Red Shirts"), and a Member of Parli ...

1975 births Living people