“I am the first child of a very poor family,” newly appointed finance Minister Suchart Thadathamrongvej told reporters at a news conference on first day in duty: “My father is a shoe repairer. When I was a kid I used to row a boat helping my illiterate mother selling noodle. I was a bus conductor and never wear shoes during a high school years,” he said with proud on the hardship background. “But I am a diligent student. I made my doctor degree with scholarship grants.”

With the bio data, few have believed that Dr. Suchart will make his way to the country’s most influential post in finance and business, a position that is both the key to drive the economic growth and draws focus from the media.

He is a one of very rare few successfully climbing a political ladder to a leader of Peau Thai Party—a spare party for People Power Party, formerly known as Thai Rak Thai.

From his poor background, Dr. Suchart said he will focus on helping people at the grass root level by promoting GDP growth, because GDP will lift the country overall economy.

“We have 40 million poor people waiting to receive aids from the government,” he said.

For the monetary policy, Dr. Suchart said he was comfortable with the present baht level, which was around 34 to 35 per US dollar.

He predicted that Thailand GDP will grow by 5 per cent this year and maximum 4 per cent next year.