Two members of the United Thai Nation Party (UTN) have been appointed as political-office holders attached to the Secretariat of the Prime Minister.
The cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, on Tuesday approved the appointments of Sayam Bangkultham and Newin Chorchaithip as political officials attached to the PM's Secretariat, as proposed by Pirapan Salirathavibhaga, who serves as the PM's secretary-general as well as the UTN's leader.
Mr Sayam serves as the UTN's deputy secretary-general while Mr Newin sits on the party's strategic committee and is tipped to be a potential MP candidate for Bangkok's Yannawa district in the coming election.
The PM's secretariat has been given a quota of 30 political officials, and there are already 24 of them, including the new appointees, according to a source.
On Jan 9, Gen Prayut officially joined the UTN -- a move that would seal his position as the party's prime ministerial candidate.
Apart from the political officials drawn from the ranks of the UTN, Gen Prayut currently has six people serving as his advisers: Patcharaporn Inseeyong, Trairong Suwannakhiri, Dissathat Hotrakit, Chatchawal Kong-udom, Chumpol Kanchana and Seksakol Atthawong.
Mr Chatchawal, Mr Chumpol, Mr Seksakol and Mr Trairong are also members of the UTN.