Ex-energy executive Pichai named Thai finance minister

He will also take on role of DPM and faces tough task of reviving country’s economy

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Thailand's King has approved former corporate energy executive and bourse chair Pichai Chunhavajira as finance minister, taking over the role from Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, the official Royal Gazette said on April 28.

The 75-year-old, who has been Mr Srettha's adviser, was the chairman of the board of Bangchak Corp, a post he had held since 2012.

He headed the board of the Stock Exchange of Thailand for less than three months in 2024 and was on the central bank board from 2014 to 2017.

Also taking on the role of deputy prime minister, Mr Pichai will face a tough task of reviving South-east Asia's second-largest economy, which lags behind its regional peers, as it faces high household debt and borrowing costs, as well as China's slowdown.

Gross domestic product unexpectedly shrank in the final quarter of 2023 from the third, while growth in 2023 slowed to 1.9 per cent from 2.5 per cent in 2022.