Prawit Wongsuwon

Prawit Wongsuwon
ประวิตร วงษ์สุวรรณ
Prawit at the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting, Singapore in 2018
Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand
In office 30 August 2014 – 1 September 2023
Prime Minister	Prayut Chan-o-cha
Acting Prime Minister of Thailand
In office 24 August 2022 – 30 September 2022
Monarch	Vajiralongkorn
Preceded by	Prayut Chan-o-cha[a]
Succeeded by	Prayut Chan-o-cha[b]
Minister of Defence
In office 30 August 2014 – 10 July 2019
Prime Minister	Prayut Chan-o-cha
Preceded by	Yingluck Shinawatra
Succeeded by	Prayut Chan-o-cha
In office 20 December 2008 – 9 August 2011
Prime Minister	Abhisit Vejjajiva
Preceded by	Somchai Wongsawat
Succeeded by	Yuthasak Sasiprapha
Leader of the Palang Pracharath Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 27 June 2020
Preceded by	Uttama Savanayana
Member of the House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office 14 May 2023
Constituency	Party-list
President of National Olympic Committee of Thailand
Incumbent
Assumed office 5 April 2017
Preceded by	Yuthasak Sasiprapha
Commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Army
In office 1 October 2004 – 30 September 2005
Preceded by	Chaiyasit Shinawatra
Succeeded by	Sonthi Boonyaratglin
Personal details
Born	(1945-08-11) 11 August 1945 (age 78) Bangkok, Thailand
Political party	Palang Pracharath (since 2020)
Relatives	Patcharawat Wongsuwan (brother)
Alma mater	Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy National Defence College
Nickname	Pom
Military service
Allegiance	Thailand
Branch/service	Royal Thai Army
Years of service	1969–2005
Rank	General
Battles/wars	Vietnam War Laotian Civil War Communist insurgency in Thailand

Prawit Wongsuwon (also spelled Wongsuwan; Thai: ประวิตร วงษ์สุวรรณ, RTGS: Prawit Wongsuwan, pronounced [prà.wít wōŋ.sù.wān]; born 11 August 1945), nicknamed Pom (Thai: ป้อม), is a Thai politician and former army officer who served as the First Deputy Prime Minister from 2014 to 2023, Minister of Defence from 2008 to 2011 during the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and from 2014 to 2019 in the first government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. He also previously served as the deputy chairman of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), a military junta which ruled Thailand from 2014 to 2019. From 2004 to 2005 he was the commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Army (RTA).

In 2022, he briefly became Acting Prime Minister of Thailand after Prayut was briefly suspended from carrying out his duties as Prime Minister of Thailand by the Constitutional Court of Thailand after the court agreed to take up the case on whether Prayut had exceeded the constitutional term limit for the office of Prime Minister. The Constitutional Court of Thailand later ruled on 30 September 2022 that Prayut had not exceeded his term limit and may continue to serve as Prime Minister. Prayut was thereafter able to resume carrying out duties as Prime Minister as a result of the court ruling and Prawit ceased to become the Acting Prime Minister of Thailand on the same date of the court ruling.^[1][2]

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