BANGKOK (AP) — Veteran Thai politician Anutin Charnvirakul was elected prime minister on Friday after winning a parliamentary vote, according to an official tally.
The leader of the Bhumjaithai party won a total of 311 votes, far exceeding the 247 required majority from the House of Representative’s 492 active members. He and his government are expected to take office in a few days after obtaining a formal appointment from King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
Anutin, 58, succeeds Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who was dismissed by court order as prime minister last week after being found guilty of ethics violations over a politically compromising phone call with neighboring Cambodia’s Senate President Hun Sen.
A border dispute between the two nations erupted into a deadly five-day armed conflict in Ju