Pheu Thai MPs mark PM Paetongtarn’s 38th birthday, honour Srettha

Pheu Thai’s 141 MPs gathered on Tuesday to celebrate their party leader Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s 38th birthday as well as to thank her predecessor Srettha Thavisin for all his hard work.

The birthday party was held a day in advance at the party’s headquarters on the ninth floor of the Shinawatra 3 Building.

Paetongtarn marked her actual birthday on Wednesday by making merit with her father, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, at Wat Saket.

At the celebration on Tuesday, Paetongtarn and Srettha arrived together at the Pheu Thai head office, where she was presented with a birthday cake by former public health minister and ex-party leader Cholnan Srikaew.

The cake sported a photograph of Paetongtarn taken while she was receiving the royal command for her appointment as Thailand’s 31st prime minister. The message on the cake was “HBD38 & Happy New PM#31”.

The MPs then sang the birthday song for the PM before posing for photos together. They then trooped into the meeting room for the weekly party meeting.

During the meeting, Pheu Thai secretary-general Sorawong Thienthong stood up to say that all party MPs were grateful to Srettha for devoting himself to work for the party for two years – one year campaigning for votes and another year as prime minister.

“I would like to thank Srettha for working for us and for laying a strong foundation for us,” he said, adding that it was now Paetongtarn’s turn to prove herself.

After Sorawong completed his speech, Paetongtarn rose to thank Srettha, saying that though he only debuted in politics two years ago, he had worked hard and devoted himself to the party. She also applauded him for his many achievements.

“I and other Pheu Thai members never imagined that Srettha would have achieved so much and devoted himself to his work so much,” she said as she called for a big applause for the former PM.

In his reply, Srettha said he has always been a man of strong integrity and ethics. He was apparently referring to the charter court verdict, which said he lacked integrity and had flouted the code of ethics by appointing an unqualified person to his Cabinet.

Srettha also promised to attend party meetings in the future and offered to help Pheu Thai MPs who might be in a financial crisis.

He said he would stand behind the scenes and lend support to Paetongtarn, who he described as Pheu Thai’s beloved prime minister and the “bloodline of the party’s spiritual leader”.

Srettha ended his speech by wai-ing and thanking party members, who gave him a standing ovation.