Pita Limjaroenrat

Biography

Pita Limjaroenrat (Thai: พิธา ลิ้มเจริญรัตน์, RTGS: Phitha Limcharoenrat [pʰí(ʔ).tʰāː lím.tɕā.rɤ̄ːn.rát] ; born 5 September 1980), nicknamed Tim (Thai: ทิม, RTGS: Thim), is a Thai businessman and former politician who served as Leader of the Move Forward Party, the de facto successor to the dissolved Future Forward Party, from 2020 to 2023, and then as the advisory chair of the party from 2023 to 2024. He was also a member of the House of Representatives from 2019 to 2024. Educated in New Zealand, Pita studied finance in Thailand. He further studied politics and business in the United States, having received various scholarships. Upon his return to Thailand in 2005, he took over his family's rice bran oil company and helped it gain its foothold. After obtaining a master's degree in the US, he continued his work in business. In 2019, Pita was approached by the pro-democracy Future Forward Party to be a party-list candidate for the 2019 general election. He accepted and ultimately won a seat in the House of Representatives. Upon the dissolution of Future Forward in 2020, Pita was selected to lead the newly formed Move Forward Party. Pita led Move Forward to become the largest party in the 2023 general election, winning 151 seats. Forming a coalition with fellow pro-democracy parties, he announced plans to be elected prime minister of Thailand. In the first round of parliamentary voting on 13 July 2023, he was not elected by the National Assembly, as he lacked the votes from the Senate. Later, on 19 July, he was suspended as an MP by the Constitutional Court over shares in the defunct broadcaster iTV. Pita's second nomination on the same day was blocked by the National Assembly. Move Forward ultimately joined the opposition following a dispute with their initial coalition partner, Pheu Thai Party. Pita resigned as leader of Move Forward in September 2023. He was succeeded by Chaithawat Tulathon, but remained active in the party. On 24 January, the Constitutional Court cleared him of wrongdoing, securing his status as a member of the House of Representatives. On 7 August 2024, more than a year after the general election, the Move Forward Party was disbanded by the Constitutional Court in a ruling that banned Pita and other party executives from politics for ten years. He subsequently supported and became a member of the reincarnation of Move Forward, the People's Party. Later that month, he began a fellowship at Harvard Kennedy School of Harvard University.

== Early life and education == Pita Limjaroenrat was born in Bangkok on 5 September 1980, as the eldest of two children of Pongsak Limjaroenrat, who previously served as an adviser to the Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives and Linda Limjaroenrat. His uncle, Padung Limjaroenrat, was a former secretary to the Minister of Interior and closely associated with then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Pita is of Chinese descent and has once mentioned that his surname was based on his family's original surname Lim. Pita's maternal grandmother, Anusri, once owned a house in Battambang, Cambodia, although he neither claims lineage from the Aphaiwong family nor Cambodian descent.

Pita's education began at Bangkok Christian College. At the age of 11, he moved to Hamilton, New Zealand, He attended St John's College for his secondary education. He was living in Hamilton, staying with a middle-class host family, at the same time as future New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern, with whom he would later attend Harvard University. During his time in New Zealand, he took on part-time jobs, including delivering newspapers and milk, to support himself. His interest in politics was sparked in an unexpected way: due to the limited television options, which were mostly Australian soap operas or parliamentary debates, he found himself drawn to the political discussions. This exposure, particularly to speeches by Jim Bolger, then the Prime Minister of New Zealand, played a significant role in developing his political interests. After completing his secondary education in New Zealand, Pita returned to Thailand and enrolled in Thammasat University, where he pursued a bachelor's degree in finance at the Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy. He graduated in 2002 with first-class honors and received a scholarship to study at the University of Texas at Austin. During his time in Austin, the 2000 U.S. presidential election unfolded, which Pita notes had a significant impact on his political views. He then earned an international student scholarship to Harvard University, making him the first Thai student to achieve this distinction. Pita has expressed that his experiences at Harvard greatly influenced his political beliefs and future policy goals. In 2004, he worked for a policy team led by Suvit Maesincee, a future Minister of Higher Education, Science Research and Innovation. Pita's engagement in political circles extended to his involvement with economic advisor Somkid Jatusripitak. This included accompanying then-Prime Minister Thaksin to New York City for a United Nations General Assembly meeting in September 2006. However, Thaksin, who had written Pita's recommendation letter for Harvard, was unable to deliver his speech due to a military coup on 19 September, leading to his departure for London. Following the coup, upon his return to Thailand, Pita faced a brief detention, which caused him to miss part of his father's funeral. He continued his academic journey by completing a joint Master in Public Administration degree at the Harvard Kennedy School of Harvard University and a Master of Business Administration degree at the Sloan School of Management of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2011. While at Harvard, Pita worked at the Boston Consulting Group as a management consultant.

== Business career == At the age of 25, Pita returned to Thailand to take over as managing director of CEO Agrifood, a rice bran oil business run by his family, after the death of his father. The company had been laden with debt, but was able to regain its foothold two years after and allowed Pita to return to the United States where he finished his master's degree in 2011. He also served as the executive director of Grab Thailand from 2017 to 2018.

== Political career ==

=== Member of the House of Representatives ===

Pita aspired to become a politician since he was in his 20s. He became a member of the Future Forward Party following an invitation from the party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit. He ran as a candidate in the 2019 general election and was elected as the fourth party-list representative for his party in the House of Representatives. In July 2019, Pita gave a speech in the House of Representatives about the "Five-Button Theory." This theory highlighted the need for government focus on key agricultural policies, including land ownership, farmers' debts, cannabis, agro-tourism, and water resources. His speech, notable for transcending party lines, received commendation from Interior Minister Anupong Paochinda. Following the dissolution of the Future Forward Party by the Constitutional Court on 21 February 2020, Pita was chosen as the leader of the Move Forward Party, second incarnation and successor of Future Forward Party. He, along with 54 former members of parliament from the disbanded party, joined this new party. Pita's formal election as the leader of the Move Forward Party occurred on 14 March 2020. He would later describe himself as the “designated survivor” to lead the new party. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Pita criticised the government for a "systematic failure of the entire vaccine value chain" starting from the initial vaccine procurement strategy. In October 2021, he confirmed he would be the party's nominee for prime minister after the next general election.

=== 2023 general election ===