Pita Limjaroenrat

Pita Limjaroenrat
พิธา ลิ้มเจริญรัตน์
Pita in 2023
Advisory Chair of the Move Forward Party
In office 23 September 2023 – 7 August 2024
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Leader of the Move Forward Party
In office 14 March 2020 – 23 September 2023
Preceded by	Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit (Future Forward Party; de facto)
Succeeded by	Chaithawat Tulathon
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 24 March 2019[a] – 7 August 2024
Constituency	Party-list
Personal details
Born	(1980-09-05) 5 September 1980 (age 43) Bangkok, Thailand
Political party	Move Forward (2020–2024)
Other political affiliations	Future Forward (2018–2020)
Spouse	Chutima Teepanart ​ ​ (m. 2012; div. 2019)​
Children	1
Education	Thammasat University (BBA) Harvard University (MPA) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MBA)
Occupation	Politician businessman author
Website	Campaign website
Nickname	Tim (ทิม)
Pita Limjaroenrat's voice Pita Limjaroenrat on democratic backsliding in Thailand Recorded 10 May 2023

Pita Limjaroenrat (Thai: พิธา ลิ้มเจริญรัตน์, RTGS: Phitha Limcharoenrat, pronounced [pʰí(ʔ).tʰāː lím.tɕā.rɤ̄ːn.rát] ^ⓘ; born 5 September 1980), nicknamed Tim (Thai: ทิม, RTGS: Thim),^[1] is a Thai businessman and politician. A former member of the House of Representatives, he previously served as Leader of the Move Forward Party, the de facto successor to the dissolved Future Forward Party, from 2020 to 2023.

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 U.S., 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 elections. 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. Pita resigned as leader of Move Forward in September 2023. He was succeeded by Chaithawat Tulathon, but continues to be 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 the reincarnation of Move Forward, the People's Party. Later that month, he began a fellowship at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.

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