Property tycoon Sretta Thavisin, another of Pheu Thai’s prime minister candidates, said it is “very evident” that Ms Paetongtarn is the most popular at the moment.
He noted that neither he nor even the incumbent Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has been able to come close to her in polls surveying voters’ choice for the top job.
“I think Khun Thaksin is probably the most popular prime minister in the history of Thailand, so I think he has a place in history. But I think now, Khun Paetongtarn has firmly established herself in the Thai political arena,” he said.
PREDECESSORS’ ACHIEVEMENTS
However, voters will also take into consideration the achievements of Pheu Thai when it was last in power, according to observers.
It last governed in 2011 under Yingluck, and before that in the early 2000s under Thaksin’s related Thai Rak Thai Party. Both were ousted in separate military coups.