Paetongtarn Shinawatra (Thai: แพทองธาร ชินวัตร; RTGS: Phaethongthan Chinnawat; nicknamed Ung Ing; born 21 August 1986) is a Thai politician and businesswoman who is the current leader of the Pheu Thai Party. A member of the Shinawatra political family, she is the youngest daughter and niece of the two former Thai prime ministers Thaksin and Yingluck, respectively.^[1][2]

Paetongtarn Shinawatra was born in Bangkok. She went to Saint Joseph Convent School for junior high school and Mater Dei School for high school. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in Political Science, Sociology and Anthropology from the Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University in 2008 and continued her studies in England, earning a MSc degree in International Hotel Management from the University of Surrey.^[3]

Paetongtarn is the No. 1 shareholder of SC Asset Corporation and a director of the Thaicom Foundation. She is married to Pitaka Suksawat and they have two children; a daughter and a son.^[4]

At a meeting of the Pheu Thai Party on March 20, 2022, Paetongtarn was elected as "Head of the Pheu Thai Family".^[5] When speaking at the Pheu Thai Party's annual general meeting in April 2022, she said that she wants to see regime change in Thailand and wants to gain more experience before standing for the post of the country's prime minister.^[6]

Paetongtarn became the leading prime minister-candidate in the opinion polls. In April 2023, she was officially nominated as one of the three prime minister-candidates of Pheu Thai Party for general election, along with Srettha Thavisin and Chaikasem Nitisiri.^[7] Following weeks of debate, Srettha was elected prime minister by the parliament of Thailand.

On October 27, 2023, Paetongtarn was elected by the PTP’s core members during a general assembly held at the party’s head office to become the party’s new leader, receiving 289 votes with one abstention.

2005 – The Most Admirable Order of the Direkgunabhorn, 6th Class, Gold Medal (G.M.T.)^[8]