Yingluck Shinawatra

Yingluck Shinawatra (Thai: ยิ่งลักษณ์ ชินวัตร, rtgs: Yinglak Chinnawat, pronounced [jîŋ.lák tɕʰīn.ná.wát]; born 21 June 1967), nicknamed Pu (Thai: ปู, pronounced [pūː]), is a Thai businesswoman and politician, a member of the Pheu Thai Party who became the 28th Prime Minister of Thailand following the 2011 general election. Yingluck was Thailand's first female Prime Minister and its youngest in over 60 years. She was removed from office on 7 May 2014 by a Constitutional Court decision that found her guilty on a charge of abuse of power.

Born in Chiang Mai Province into a wealthy family of Hakka Chinese descent, Yingluck Shinawatra earned a bachelor's degree from Chiang Mai University and a master's degree from Kentucky State University, both in public administration. She then became an executive in the businesses founded by her elder brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, and later became the president of property developer SC Asset and managing director of Advanced Info Service. Thaksin served as Prime Minister from 2001 until 2006 when he was overthrown by a military coup. He fled abroad shortly before he was convicted in absentia of using his position to increase his own wealth. He has since lived in self-imposed exile to avoid his sentence in prison.