Prem Tinsulanonda

Prem Tinsulanonda (Thai: เปรม ติณสูลานนท์, RTGS: Prem Tinnasulanon, pronounced [prēːm tīn.nā.sǔː.lāː.nōn]; 26 August 1920 – 26 May 2019) was a Thai military officer, politician, and statesman who served as the Prime Minister of Thailand from 1980 to 1988.

During Prem’s tenure as prime minister, he was credited with ending a communist insurgency and presiding over accelerating economic growth. As president of the Privy Council, he served as Regent of Thailand from the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej on 13 October 2016 until 1 December 2016, when Vajiralongkorn was proclaimed King. At the age of 98, Prem was the longest-living Thai Prime Minister. He is also the oldest regent of any country, surpassing Bavarian Prince Regent Luitpold's record, when he became the regent for king Rama X.

During the Thai political crisis of the mid-2000s, he was accused by deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his supporters of masterminding the 2006 coup, as well as in the appointment of the post-coup legislature and interim government of Surayud Chulanont. The military junta that ousted Thaksin denied that Prem had any important political role. Prem, as the President of the Privy Council, promoted King Bhumibol's ideologies and royal projects, though he sometimes represented himself as being the voice of the king. He urged Thai society to follow the king's advice and himself founded several welfare projects related to education, drug suppression, poverty, and national unity. A southerner, Prem had also dealt personally with trying to resolve the South Thailand insurgency.