BANGKOK (Reuters) -Srettha Thavisin, until recently chief of one of Thailand's biggest real estate developers, was on Tuesday voted in as prime minister at the head of an unlikely alliance of populists and pro-military parties after weeks of post-election deadlock.
Srettha, 61, won a vote in parliament to become premier hours after the founder of his populist Pheu Thai Party, Thaksin Shinawatra, made a dramatic return to Thailand after 15 years of self-exile and was taken straight to jail.
Tuesday's vote was passed with the support of pro-military members of parliament who had blocked the progressive Move Forward Party, which won a May election, from power. From a family with deep connections in the business elite, Srettha started his career at the Thailand arm of Procter & Gamble after studying for economics and management degrees in the United States.
This month, political gadfly Chuwit Kamolvisit alleged that Srettha, while in charge of Sansiri, was involved in wrongdoing in two land deals. Both Sansiri and Srettha denied that.A devoted fan of English soccer club Liverpool who peppers his social media accounts with pictures of dogs, Srettha literally looms over his party colleagues, at a height of six feet, three inches .
For Srettha, being a political neophyte has benefits but also possible costs, analysts and people who know him say. While he might be unencumbered by old political obligations, at the same time he lacks a political support base both within the party and the broader public.
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