Adrenaline junkie tycoon Thanathorn takes on Thai  junta

Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit has shaken up Thailand’s political landscape with his Future Forward Party.

Future Forward leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit campaigns in Bangkok.

Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit is no stranger to risk. In business, he transformed his family firm into an Asian car-parts empire after taking the helm at 23 following his father’s death.

In his spare time, the dashing entrepreneur is an extreme-sports aficionado who has completed endura­nce races in the Alps, run a marathon in the Sahara and been rescued from a Japanese mountain.

Now the university graduate has taken on his greatest challenge — plunging into Thailand’s turbulent politics as a strident critic­ of the ruling junta in the world’s most coup-prone nation.

Five years after the armed forces­ seized power, the country will go to the polls on March 24. Bolstered by the probable support of military appointees in the new parliament, Prayut Chan-o-cha, 64, the coup leader and current Prime Minister, hopes to retain office­.

Yet Thanathorn, 40, has shaken up the political landscape with his Future Forward Party, which combines an anti-junta agenda and calls for income redistribution served up with digital savvy.

Among his legions of young social­ media admirers, some appear­ as motivated by his dreamy looks as his progressive politics, dubbing the father of four “Daddy”, in reference to a popular soap opera character. However, his strident criticisms of the milit­ary government, calls for a reduc­tion in the size of the armed forces and an end to conscription have made him powerful enemies.

Indeed, the charismatic campaigner already knows all about the risks entailed in taking on the establishment. He faces five years in jail under sweeping data laws if he is convicted on charges of spreading false information about the junta.

“The charge is politically motiv­ated but this is what happens when you challenge the system,” he said in an interview at his Bangkok campaign headquarters.

The party has also faced demand­s from some opponents that it should be disbanded for allegedly being critical of the monarchy. It is a powerful accusation in a country where the royal family is revered. It is an accusation also strongly denied by the party.

Another new opposition party was dissolved last week for nomin­ating a princess as its candidate for prime minister. The Thai Raksa Chart Party was ruled to have viol­ated the constitution by seeking to involve the royal family in politics by putting forward Ubolratana Mahidol. Her candidacy lasted only a few hours before King Maha Vajiralongkorn, her younger broth­er, issued a stern rebuke.

It is not surprising that before Thanathorn entered the fray his first hurdle was to secure the approv­al of another formidable figure — his mother, Somporn.

When he told her his plans, she was far from convinced. “She was worried for me and my security and for the family and the business,” he said. “She asked me if the company or the country was more important and I told her the country­. She was disappointed but in the end she understood.”

She may well have had in mind the recent history of the Shina­watra clan.

Thaksin Shinawatra was anothe­r billionaire businessman who moved into politics, becoming prime minister before he was overthrown in a 2006 coup. He now lives in exile, a fugitive from corruption charges, although his party remains the country’s largest­ opposition faction.

For Thanathorn it would have been easy to pursue the comfortable life, keeping his mother happy and continuing to earn plaudits as the driving force behind­ the success of his company Thai Summit as its revenues soared to $3.3 billion a year.

The Sunday Times