Introducing the background of Professor Ton Veerayut Kanchuchat, the third prime ministerial candidate of the People’s Party. He carries the DNA of the Future Forward Party and would become prime minister if "Teng-Mai" face legal cases involving 44 MPs.
On 17 December 2025, the election timetable became clear. The nationwide election will be held on 8 February 2026, with early voting on 1 February 2026. Candidacy registration for constituency MPs is from 27 to 31 December 2025, while registration for party-list MPs and submission of prime ministerial candidate names is scheduled for 28 to 31 December 2025.
The People’s Party previously introduced all three prime ministerial candidates: Mr. Nattapong Ruangpanyawut, party leader, as candidate number 1; Ms. Sirikanya Tansakul, deputy party leader, as number 2; and Mr. Veerayut Kanchuchat, deputy party leader, as number 3. This lineup is aimed at the upcoming election and to ensure voters are not left with a "mystery box" prime minister, avoiding uncertainty over who will lead the party after the election.
Mr. Veerayut Kanchuchat, known to journalists as Professor Ton, is currently 46 years old and serves as deputy leader of the People’s Party. He is part of the economic policy team. He is married with one child.
Veerayut holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Chulalongkorn University and a master’s in economics from the same university. He also earned a master’s and a doctorate in development economics from the University of Cambridge, UK, supported by a Cambridge Trust scholarship for his doctoral studies. After graduation, he worked as a lecturer at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), a specialized public policy university in Tokyo, Japan, for 11 years, achieving the rank of associate professor. His expertise includes teaching and research in industrial policy, the middle-income trap, and multinational production supply chains.
He also has experience working with international organizations such as the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) in London, as well as the IMF, UNCTAD, and the United Nations ESCAP. He authored a Thai-language book titled "The Three-Colored Economy: The Economy of the Future."
Veerayut entered politics initially as a member of the Future Forward Party, serving as an economic policy advisor for both the Future Forward and Move Forward parties. He was among the seven economic team members of the Move Forward Party during the May 2023 election.
After the 2023 election, Veerayut served as an advisor to the Economic Development Committee of the House of Representatives and worked on several committees, including the special committee reviewing the 2025 budget bill, the special committee reviewing the 2024 budget bill, the subcommittee studying ways to handle the impact of the trade war (2025), and as vice-chair of the special subcommittee reviewing the 2025 Trade Competition Act.
Before the People’s Party announced its prime ministerial candidates, Veerayut’s name frequently appeared as a possible candidate. On 23 November 2025, at the People’s Party Recharge event, party leader Nattapong Ruangpanyawut officially introduced all three candidates, with Veerayut named third, after Ms. Sirikanya who was second. Party leaders explained that nominating three candidates draws from experience in the Move Forward Party era, when only one candidate, former leader Pita Limjaroenrat, was nominated, which contributed to missing the prime ministership. Veerayut’s nomination also prepares for potential legal cases involving 44 MPs, including Nattapong and Sirikanya, who are implicated.
