Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisan due to lack of buyers. On 30 June 2013 he was appointed Minister of Commerce and a deputy prime minister in the cabinet of Yingluck Shinawatra. On 7 May 2014, Niwatthamrong became acting Prime Minister following the removal of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and several members of her cabinet from office. On 22 May 2014 he was himself removed from office following a military coup. Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisan Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisan (, , ; born 25 January 1948) is a Thai businessman and politician who served as the acting Prime Minister of Thailand following Yingluck Shinawatra's removal from office by the Constitutional
Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisan from Chulalongkorn University and is married to Boonphatcharee Boonsongpaisan. A close business associate of Thaksin Shinawatra, Niwatthamrong served as the Chairman of the Executive Committee-Media and Advertising front of Shin Corporation since 1995 and as Vice-Chairman since 2000. He served from 2001 to 2002 as Vice-Chairman of iTV and from 1993 to 1995, director of that company between 2002 and 2008, and a member of the board of directors between 2008 and 16 March 2010. Niwatthamrong served as director of the controversial rice pledging scheme, where rice was bought at inflated prices from farmers and subsequently was left to rot