Somchai Wongsawat, Thai lawyer and politician, 26th Prime Minister of Thailand
Somchai Wongsawat (Thai: สมชาย วงศ์สวัสดิ์, pronounced [sǒm.t͡ɕʰāːj wōŋ.sā.wàt]; born 31 August 1947) is a Thai politician who was the prime minister of Thailand in 2008 and a former executive member of the People's Power Party (PPP) whose political rights were disenfranchised by the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) for five years.
Prior to entering electoral politics, he had served civil service and judicial service, having been appointed Permanent Secretary of Justice (the highest non-elected position in the civil service) in 2000 by the government of Chuan Leekpai. Following his retirement from office in 2006 owing to the pensionable age, he entered politics after the 2006 coup unseating the government of his brother-in-law, Thaksin Shinawatra. He joined the PPP which won the December 2007 parliamentary elections, becoming Minister of Education and Senior Deputy Prime Minister. After the premiership of Samak Sundaravej had been terminated by the ConCourt for contravening the conflict of interests law, Somchai was successfully nominated Prime Minister. His government had to deal with the 2008 Thailand political crisis as well as the global financial crisis of 2008, and the PPP was eventually dissolved by the ConCourt and its executive members, including Somchai, were prohibited from politics for five years for vote-buying committed by Yongyuth Tiyapairat.