football-loving property mogul turned Thai PM

Having helmed one of the kingdom’s biggest real estate developers, the 61-year-old traded in his business suits for campaign trail casual wear when the Pheu Thai party named him as one of their three candidates for the top job.

The respect with which he is held by Thailand’s powerful business community has sparked hopes he might kick-start the sluggish economy after a decade of drift under military-backed governments.

Srettha studied in the United States and entered politics having built fabulous wealth after heading one of Thailand’s largest property firms, Sansiri.

His towering 1.90-metre (six-feet-three) frame was hard to miss during campaigning for the May election, although he cut a rather less glamorous and energetic figure than his fellow Pheu Thai candidate Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the daughter…