Ms Yingluck has taken the campaign by storm, generating enough buzz and excitement to win with a a handy lead over the incumbent Democrat Party, led by the prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.
Of course, being the younger sister of Mr Thaksin gives her name recognition. The former prime minister, ousted in a coup in 2006 and now living in exile in Dubai, picked his sister to lead the campaign because he could count on her loyalty. Ms Yingluck thus has a ready-made bond with the Pheu Thai base, including many of the “red shirts”.
She might not be quite political inexperienced as she seems. Her father was an MP for Chiang Mai, their hometown in the north-west, and her brother was prime minister. She studied political science in Thailand and public administration at an American university. Politics, she claims, is in her blood. The very power base of Mr Thaksin was this northern country side.
In sum, even the yellow Bangkok Post sourly admitted today her good looks, the smile, the naturalness and easy manner that Thais appreciate. Ms Yingluck is authentic — but the fact that she comes over so well is the result of a lot of good campain management.
The Democrat Party grumbles that she is the perfect early 21st-century political candidate, a beautiful fit for the modern mass media: telegenic, charismatic and very easy for voters to relate to.
The Democrats, led by Oxford-educated technocrats fostered by the Bangkok elite with money and undemocratic means are out of time.
Even the generals, might even consider her too hot to handle. They made it pretty clear, so far they want to stay out of it. So far.