Parit Wacharasindhu
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Parit Wacharasindhu | |
|---|---|
พริษฐ์ วัชรสินธุ | |
 Parit in 2024 | |
| Member of the House of Representatives | |
| Assumed office 14 May 2023 | |
| Constituency | Party-list |
| Spokesperson of People's Party | |
| Assumed office 9 August 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Himself (Move Forward Party; de facto) |
| Spokesperson of Move Forward Party | |
| In office 23 September 2023 – 7 August 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Rangsiman Rome |
| Succeeded by | Himself (People's Party; de facto) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 10 December 1992 Bangkok, Thailand |
| Party | People's Party (since 2024) |
| Other political affiliations | Move Forward (2022–2024) Democrat (2018–2019) |
| Parent | Alisa Wacharasindhu (mother) |
| Relatives | Abhisit Vejjajiva (uncle) |
| Education | Shrewsbury International School Eton College |
| Alma mater | St John's College, Oxford (BA) |
| Occupation |
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Parit Wacharasindhu (Thai: พริษฐ์ วัชรสินธุ; born 10 December 1992), nicknamed Itim (Thai: ไอติม) is a Thai politician who currently serves as a party-list member of the Thai House of Representatives. He is also the current Spokesperson of the People's Party.
Parit was educated in the United Kingdom. He first entered politics as a candidate for the House of Representatives under the Democrat Party but later resigned after the Democrats joined a coalition led by the military-backed Palang Pracharath Party in the 2019 Thai general election.[1] Since his resignation, he started an education company called Startdee, which he described as an affordable and high-quality educational platform.[2] He then joined the Move Forward Party as the party's campaign manager on 30 April 2022.[3]
Parit was born into a prominent Thai family. Both his parents are doctors, and his mother, Prof. Dr. Alisa Wacharasindhu (née Vejjajiva), is the eldest sister of former prime minister and former Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva and are ethnic Chinese of Hakka descent originating from the province of Chanthaburi with ancestral roots in Guangdong, China.[4]
Parit graduated from Chulalongkorn University Demonstration Elementary School. When he was nine years old, he travelled to study in England at preparatory schools, he said on an interview that the first time studying in the UK was very scary. After he returned to Thailand, he moved to Shrewsbury International School in order to learn more English. Then at the age of 13, he took King's Scholarship exam at Eton College and was later accepted as a scholar. He received a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE), from St John's College, University of Oxford.[5]
During his studies at Oxford in 2014, he was elected President of the Oxford Union, the largest student society at Oxford University, and one of the oldest debating societies in the world. He was the first Thai to take this role.[6]
He is widely known in Thai society from being a trainee at the Office of the Prime Minister in 2009 while Abhisit Vejjajiva was Prime Minister.[7]
Although, Mr Abhisit is also Parit's maternal uncle,[8] which is widely known to have kickstarted Parit's political career and emphasize Parit's departure from his uncle's Democrat Party to join a leftist People's Party of Thailand.
Early career
After graduating from Oxford, Parit planned to work in Thai politics, however, the country was still under military rule. Since there were no planned elections, he instead became a consultant for the firm McKinsey, working on various projects in Southeast Asia.[9]