Weeks before he strutted across Pride Week as a stylish ally with a gigawatt smile, he was little known outside political circles.
Today, four weeks after Pita Limjaroenrat defeated the old guard with an uncompromising message of change, he has become not only the vessel for Thailand’s hopes, but a new media superstar.
Almost as stunning as the outcome of May’s election has been the speed at which a cult of personality has risen around Pita. Online and off, passionate fans obsess over his face beaming in every direction from the television and the front page to TikTok.
Pita-mania is running wild, and it may be an understatement to say the 42-year-old political novice is enjoying an unusual level of attention and enthusiasm.
@janjar702 อย่างเท่ห์ๆๆๆๆๆ #พิธา #พิธาลิ้มเจริญรัตน์ #พรรคก้าวไกล #ก้าวไกล #ทิมพิธา #น้องพิพิม ♬ original sound – นางงามมมมมมมจักรวาลล – miu shop
Despite all the glow, Pita is a long way from leading a government, and the old guard opposed to the change he represents are maneuvering to deny his moment. As that reckoning approaches, the best hope for Pita and the plurality of voters may be making him too large of a target.
Whether it’s giving him the Thanathorn treatment and disqualifying him over links to a media company or procedural faults with his candidate registration, efforts to remove Pita from the equation are complicated every moment he goes viral.
With articulate speeches heavy on youth appeal and a babyface magnetism that’s turning him into an unlikely sex symbol, Pita has sucked up all the oxygen, even toppling a serial killer from the headlines of a crime-obsessed tabloid media.
On TikTok alone, videos tagged #PitaLimjaroenrat have been watched 5.3 billion times. His Move Forward Party’s feeds have been given over almost entirely to endearing photos of the eternally dapper single dad.
His shining star has been further boosted by the growing fandom. On one fan-created account followed by hundreds of thousands, the Move Forward Party leader is shown eating food, playing guitar, and always smiling, smiling, smiling.
@pita.fc ร้องเพลงดีดกีต้าร์จีบแฟนๆรายการแล้ว1 #พิธาลิ้มเจริญรัตน์ #พิธา #ทิมพิธา #พรรคก้าวไกล #ก้าวไกล ♬ เสียงต้นฉบับ – พิธาก้าวไกลMFPFC
Within hours of his historic win – Move Forward had been written off as a niche favorite of progressive city kids – Pita went live on Facebook to strike an executive pose that screamed “prime minister-elect.” Rather than moderate his message for the sake of skeptics, he doubled down on his party’s most forward positions. (Any by that, we mean reforming the monarchy.) Topping it off, he switched effortlessly between Thai and fluent English – a major departure from his English-torturing predecessor that impressed many.
🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🇹🇭🇹🇭🇹🇭
— Pita Limjaroenrat (@Pita_MFP) June 4, 2023
ประเทศของเราขับเคลื่อนด้วย ‘ความรัก’ ไม่ใช่ ‘ความกลัว’
‘ความหลากหลาย’ ไม่ใช่ ‘จุดอ่อน’ แต่คือ ‘จุดแข็ง’ ของประเทศนี้
ความรักก็คือความรัก และความรักต้องชนะ
ดังนั้น #bangkokpride2023 ไม่ใช่แค่เดือนที่เรามาเฉลิมฉลอง ไม่ใช่แค่การเดินมาเหรด… pic.twitter.com/ZDwjClG4i5
The glow up
The fact that the news media now gush about how handsome Pita is rather than the fact that he wants to remake the monarchy is also helpful. Thailand is always proud of its international achievers, and many reports emphasize the party leader’s high academic honors and trailblazing Harvard scholarship.
Much of Pita’s social media since the election has not promoted his policy wonkiness but rather promoted the Family Man: a father and a son – yet a fetching bachelor.
“They say, in politics, the most important cabinet is the ‘family cabinet,’” he wrote in one post.
Everyone lost their minds when Pita, a former Harvard University nerd who fronted for a ride-hailing app and spoke at MIT-backed startup workshops, swaggered through Bangkok’s Pride Parade in a loud-and-proud designer shirt, sleeves rolled up and ally-charm bursting through his buttons. His collar 100% popped without having to move a centimeter.
A million memes were minted, and even the gaypropriation chiding was gentle. (“What straight people think gay people dress like,” wrote one observer.)
It’s worth noting this has helped to bury past accusations by his young daughter’s mother, the actress Chutima Teepanart, that he was physically abusive. Her allegations were dismissed in court, where Pita gained sole custody of Pipim.
@mommyjewbabygina แดดดี๊พิธาน่ารักมาก ขอบคุณที่เอ็นดูลูกสาวนะคะ 14 นี้เข้าคูหาก้าวไกลนะคะ #เลือกก้าวไกลประเทศไทยไม่เหมือนเดิม #พรรคก้าวไกล #ก้าวไกล #หัวคะแนนธรรมชาติ #พิธาลิ้มเจริญรัตน์ #น้องจีน่า ♬ ไม่เป็นรอง (Main) – ค็อกเทล
And he has far eclipsed his predecessor, Future Forward founder Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, who young progressive romantics once hailed as “daddy.” He was banished from politics by the powers that be following his surprise electoral success in 2019.
Soon the public will find out if Pita is daddy enough daddy to avoid Thanathorn’s fate. After dismissing complaints about his ownership of a media company, the drums of scandal began beating anew Monday over word of misrepresentations by the company, called iTV. It is also investigating whether he improperly registered as an MP candidate.
Until then, everyone can sit back and feast on a feed full of Pita pics, and hope the man can live up to the hype.
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