Voranai Vanijaka

Voranai Vanijaka (Thai: วรนัยน์ วาณิชกะ born in Bangkok ; 4 November 1973) is a former journalist and is currently a Thai politician and leader of Ruam Thai United Party.
== Biography ==
==== Early life ====
Voranai was born on 4 November 1973 in Bangkok, Thailand. He is the son of Police Major General Viraj Vanijaka. 
==== Education ==== 
Voranai attended Pramahataisuksa School at the elementary level. At the age of 12, he moved to Austin, Texas. He completed his elementary education at Hyde Park Schools before attending Deer Park Middle School and Westwood High School (Austin, Texas). 
 
In 1996, he graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, with a degree in Political Science. He moved back to Bangkok for one year before attending London Southbank University, and graduated in 1999 with a Master of Science in International Business. 
 
==== Journalist career ==== 
Voranai joined the Bangkok Post Newspaper, The Post Publishing Company, in 2001 as a business reporter. 
He became well known at this time and described as a "fearless journalist who doesn't shirk from controversy". His articles touches on subjects such as "class snobbery, Plato's noble lies (or the government's), censorship, sex tourism and the many struggles facing every Thai".
 
The following year he became the first Editor in Chief of BK Magazine, a lifestyle and city-living magazine in Bangkok. After four years at BK Magazine, he returned to The BangkokPost Publishing and started Guru Magazine, also a lifestyle and city-living magazine. 
 
After four years as Editor in Chief of Guru Magazine, he moved over to the newspaper section and became a Political and Social Commentator for the Bangkok Post Sunday Edition. 
 
In 2009, he won the MR Ayumongkol Sonakul Award for his weekly column in the Bangkok Post Sunday. He has also published the essay "The Conscience of Somchai" in Australia's Griffith Review.
 
Recognized as an expert on Thai politics and society, he has appeared on BBC Worldwide, ABC TV (Australian TV channel) and South Korea's Arirang TV. 
 
His international speaking resume includes UNESCO (Hong Kong), Transparency International (South Korea), The Walkley Foundation (Sydney), Interrobang (Melbourne) and Ubud Writers & Readers Festival (Bali). 
 
In 2011, Voranai co-hosted the English-language dally political news talk show Morning Focus on NBT Channel 11. 
 
In 2014, he became the first Editor in Chief GQ Magazine Thailand and held the post until he resigned in 2018 to pursue personal projects. 
 
In 2020, he created Thisrupt, an English-language online media platform that provides commentaries on Thailand's politics, culture and society.This vision of Thisrupt is to "push the envelope and not simply be PR for the government", to "explain than politics, society, and economics are really all just aspects of culture", and Thisrupt's goal is to "focus on all facets of 'Thainess'". Due to Thai laws prohibiting politicians from owning a media company, Voranai closed down Thisrupt in 2021 before joining politics. 
 
==== Teaching career ==== 
After returning to Bangkok in 1996, Voranai taught World History at Assumption University (Thailand). After completing his Master's at Southbank, he continued to teach at Assumption University, lecturing in Organization Management and Human Resources Management. 
 
From 2019 to 2020, Voranai taught Public Speaking at Webster University's Bangkok campus, until the university closed down its Bangkok branch. 
 
Since 2011, he has been teaching Political Communications and Global Media Industries at Thammasat University's Bachelor of Arts Program in Journalism (Media Studies).
==== Political Career ==== 
In 2021, Voranai became a co-founder and party leader of the new political party Ruam Thai United. He entered in politic with the goal "for politics, the economy, society and education to move forward" and "raised the question why Thailand remained a developing country with the kind of budgets it spent every year while other countries overtook". 
Category:1973 births
Category:Journalists
Category:Thai politicians
Category:People from Bangkok