Former Pheu Thai Party leader and former deputy prime minister Viroj Pao-in died peacefully at 91 years old on Thursday.
Pheu Thai MP Kokaew Pikulthong expressed his condolences in a Facebook post, honouring Pol Lt Gen Viroj’s legacy as a respected elder and mentor within the party.
‘He was a compassionate leader who always offered legal guidance and support to younger members,’ Mr Kokaew wrote.
Pol Lt Gen Viroj served as Pheu Thai leader from 2014 to 2019, a period marked by political turbulence following the 2014 military coup, which ousted the Pheu Thai-led government.
Alongside then-party secretary-general Phumtham Wechayachai, he upheld the party’s stance against the coup and advocated for the swift return of power to the people.
His leadership helped steer Pheu Thai through a challenging political climate.
Born on Dec 7, 1933, Pol Lt Gen Viroj graduated from the Royal Police Cadet Academy and held several key positions in law enforcement, including chief of Samre police station and commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau.
He later entered politics, serving as an MP for Ang Thong province under the Prachakorn Thai Party and the Chart Thai Party.
He was appointed to the National Peacekeeping Council’s asset examination committee and held two ministerial posts: deputy interior minister under the Suchinda Kraprayoon government and deputy prime minister in Chuan Leekpai’s 2000 administration.
In the 2007 general election, he ran as a party-list candidate for the People Power Party but was not elected.
He later joined Pheu Thai, becoming deputy party leader and winning a party-list seat in the 2011 election.
In October 2012, Pol Lt Gen Viroj was appointed acting party leader following the resignation of Yongyuth Wichaidit.
In the 2023 general election, he was elected as the top-ranked party-list MP for Pheu Thai and presided over the first session of the 26th House of Representatives.