BANGKOK: Thai Prime Minister Patongtern Shinawatra on Friday declared assets worth more than $400 million, his party said, including 200 designer handbags worth more than $2 million and about $5 million in cash. At least 75 luxury watches are included.
Patongtern, the youngest daughter of telecoms billionaire and former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, took office in September as the fourth member of the clan to lead the Thai government in 20 years.
Paetongtarn was obliged to declare its assets and liabilities to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).
It identified assets worth 13.8 billion baht ($400 million), a document posted on media websites showed.
Its declaration stated that its investments were 11 billion baht and it had another billion baht in reserves and cash.
Her other assets include 75 watches and 39 other timepieces worth 162 million baht, as well as 217 handbags worth 76 million baht, as well as properties in London and Japan.
It also declared liabilities of nearly five billion baht, bringing its net worth to 8.9 billion baht ($258 million), according to an NACC document posted by local media.
A representative of the Pheu Thai party confirmed to AFP that the figures reported by Thai media were correct.
His father and predecessor Thaksin — who once owned Manchester City Football Club — have a net worth of $2.1 billion, making him Thailand’s 10th richest man, according to Forbes.
Thaksin used the wealth generated from his Shin Corporation telecommunications empire to enter politics, and his family remained influential during the years in exile after his ouster in a coup.
Analysts say there is a long-standing relationship between wealth and power in the kingdom. “In a nation that is not fully democratic, money plays an important role in political activity,” Uttapuran Asrachai of Sukhothai Thammathirat University told AFP.
“This has often been the justification for military interventions with claims of a lack of transparency.”