Profile of "Julaphan Amornwiwat," leader of the Pheu Thai Party, who has taken on the important task of overseeing the Ministry of Education to reform Thailand's educational structure in response to the global labor market.
The journey of the young politician from the Pheu Thai Party named "Julaphan Amornwiwat," while free from obstacles due to his father, Sompong Amornwiwat, clearing the path, is not solely because of his father's influence that he has reached this point. Partly, it is due to his own skills and significant role during the Pheu Thai Party's leadership in forming the government under "Paethongtarn Shinawatra."
During the Pheu Thai Party's government under Paethongtarn, as Deputy Minister of Finance, Julaphan was assigned as chairman of the subcommittee to drive the 10,000 Baht digital wallet top-up project, one of the government's economic and welfare initiatives.
After a sudden upheaval in the Pheu Thai Party leading to a transition to "party leader" when Ms. Paethongtarn resigned due to court disqualification from the premiership in 2025, Julaphan was overwhelmingly elected as the new party leader by party members.
Regarding Julaphan's background, he was born on 8 April 1975 and is the son of Sompong Amornwiwat, former Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Pheu Thai Party, and Mrs. Petchree (Techapaiboon) Amornwiwat.
In terms of education, Julaphan completed secondary education at the Demonstration School of Chulalongkorn University, earned a bachelor's degree in Economics from Chulalongkorn University, and a master's degree (MBA) from Boston College, USA.
Julaphan's work experience spans various roles including Deputy Minister of Finance under the governments of Srettha Thavisin and Paethongtarn Shinawatra; former deputy leader of the Pheu Thai Party; Member of Parliament for Chiang Mai under Thai Rak Thai, People's Power, and Pheu Thai parties in 2005, 2007, 2011, 2019, and 2023; former member of the Finance, Banking and Financial Institutions Committee, Budget Committee, Foreign Affairs Committee, Agricultural Products Committee of the House of Representatives; former coordinator of both government coalition and opposition parties; former economic committee member of the Pheu Thai Party; and former chairman of the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC).
Julaphan is regarded as an "intellectual strategist" who deeply understands budgeting and investment in human resources. His notable achievement is driving the digital economy policy, which will be further developed into a "Digital Education" system to reduce educational inequality.
The mission to "overhaul Thailand's education" is a massive project linking the economy with the concept of "learning to earn," aiming to enable Thai children to "have food, have spending money, and have dignity" even before graduation. It also involves addressing teachers' debt by continuing policies to manage nationwide teacher debt, boosting morale among education personnel, and innovating a retirement lottery system aimed at reforming school-based savings to establish financial foundations for youth from an early age.
With five terms as MP and former opposition whip known for precise information, Julaphan’s move from the Finance Ministry to oversee "Sema 1" (the Ministry of Education) signals a clear message that the Pheu Thai Party intends to deploy an "economic management expert" to resolve chronic issues in the Ministry of Education with tangible results before the 2026 election.