Paetongtarn begins her tenure with blessings and lunch with media

As a devout Buddhist, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra sought blessings from the supreme patriarch on Monday morning before starting her first day at her office in Thai Khu Fah Building.

Speaking to Government House press corps while checking the lunch stalls set up for them, she said she felt very blessed.

The feast hosted by the young PM for the reporters included beef noodles, khao kha moo (braised pork leg on rice) and coconut milk ice cream. The ice cream came from a shop frequented by her husband, Pitaka Suksawat, while the noodles came from a restaurant often used by the Pheu Thai Party for meetings.

Following her meeting with reporters, Paetongtarn was invited to visit the media lounge inside Government House, where she was accompanied by PM’s secretary-general Prommin Lertsuridej and Deputy Finance Ministers Julapun Amornvivat and Paopoom Rojanasakul.

Prommin, meanwhile, told reporters that the prime minister has decided to personally oversee the police commission, after having allocated other supervisory responsibilities among deputy prime ministers.