Role Thai Politician Name Newin Chidchob | Religion Buddhism Nationality Thai Spouse Karuna Chidchob (m. 1994) | |
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Born October 4, 1958 (age 65)
Buriram, Thailand ( 1958-10-04 ) Parents La-ong Chidchob, Chai Chidchob Education Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, Suankularb Wittayalai School Political party Justice Unity Party, Thai Nation Party, Solidarity Party, People's Power Party, Bhumjaithai Party Awards Order of the Crown of Thailand, Order of the White Elephant Similar People Karuna Chidchob, Chai Chidchob, Thaksin Shinawatra, Worawi Makudi | ||
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra | ||
Officials comment on latest developments
Newin Chidchob (Thai: เนวิน ชิดชอบ, born 4 October 1958) is a Thai politician from Buriram province. As a member of several political parties, Newin and his allies eventually joined the Thai Rak Thai Party of Thaksin Shinawatra in 2005. Prior to the 2006 Thai coup d'état, he served as a member of the Parliament for Buriram Province and was a Cabinet minister with the Thai Rak Thai party. From 2002 to 2005, he was Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives.
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Following the 2006 Thai coup d'état and the subsequent dissolution of Thai Rak Thai for corruption, Newin and his friends, mostly members of the National Assembly from the south of Isan (the northeastern region), shifted from the ruling (now also dissolved) People Power Party (PPP) to the opposition Democrat Party during the 2008 Thai political crisis. He is the leader of the so-called "Friends of Newin Group", now known as the Bhumjaithai Party. Consequently, a Democrat Party led coalition gained the majority in the National Assembly. Abhisit Vejjajiva, the Democrat Party's leader, was elected by a majority of the Parliament to be the new prime minister in December 2008.
During the political tension in April 2009 caused by pro-Thaksin groups widely known as the Red Shirts, Newin publicly blasted Thaksin, his former 'boss', as the root of the political tension due to his 'doubts' of Thaksin's loyalty towards the monarchy and the current political system of the kingdom. Previously in 2008, Newin had wept with Thaksin when the former PM kissed the tarmac at Suvarnabhumi airport after returning to Thailand after a self-imposed exile.
Newin was named after the Burmese leader Ne Win. He comes from a Thai Khmer family. Many of his ancestors were elephant drivers (mahouts).
Crimes and punishments
On 19 June 1998, the Buriram Provincial Court handed Newin a suspended six-month jail sentence and a ฿50,000 fine in a vote-buying slander case filed by Democrat MP Karun Sai-ngam. A year later, the Constitutional Court ruled 7-6 that Newin could keep his ministerial post.
Newin was acquitted in 2009 of involvement in the rubber sapling scandal for bid rigging, corruption and collusion.
In 2007 Newin was banned from politics for five years for being an executive of the disbanded Thai Rak Thai Party, however he continues to be active in politics despite the ban, famously engineering a coalition government with his group and the Democrat Party.
Later life
In December 2009, it was announced Newin take over PEA F.C. and rename in Buriram PEA F.C until 2012 to rename again Buriram United F.C.