Business tycoon and veteran politician Anutin Charnvirakul has taken office as prime minister of Thailand, after an endorsement from the king paved the way for his tenure as the nation’s newest leader following months of political turmoil.
“His majesty the king has endorsed Mr Anutin Charnvirakul to be prime minister from now onwards,” Arpath Sukhanunth, secretary-general of Thailand’s lower house of parliament, declared on Sunday, reading aloud a royal command in a ceremony at Anutin’s Bhumjaithai Party headquarters in Bangkok.
Images posted on social media by Thai news agencies showed Anutin bowing before an image of King Maha Vajiralongkorn, before greeting his family, including his father, a former interior minister.
In remarks after accepting his election, Anutin was quoted by Ba