Piyabutr has over 15-year experience as a constitutional law professor and scholar. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree from Faculty of Law, Thammasat University in 2001, he passed the examination and attained the position of lecturer at Thammasat University. The same year, he received a scholarship from the French government to pursue his master’s and doctoral degree in public law in France.

During his time as a lecturer, he found that despite students understanding the ideology of constitution law, they were unable to change society. He feels he needs to do more to drive social and political changes. He therefore decided to establish Future Forward Party with Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit seeing it as the best chance to achieve this goal. Shortly after he announced his resignation from academic career to pursue his political work with Future Forward Party, Piyabutr obtained a position of Assistant Professor of Law.

Profile

Piyabutr was born on October 23, 1980, in a family of Chinese descents. The third child out of four stated that his parents have suffered great cost to be able to afford their children’s education. He went to the faculty of law at Thammasat University during the financial crisis in 1997. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 2001, he received a scholarship from the French government and pursued his master’s and doctoral degree in public law in France in 2002.

Piyabutr is regarded as one of the most notable law professors in Thailand. He has published many research papers on Constitution law, Administrative law, and Court of Justice. His published works comes in variety of forms including articles, research papers and books.

He has written a column ‘law for citizens’ published on Matichon Weekly. He also shared his lecture videos on YouTube and constantly shares opinions on public matters, whether law or politically-related, on social media.

Why Future Forward

Piyabutr is passionate about political matters in Thailand. During his time as a student in France, he had the chance to explore the history and culture which affected the political dynamics in France and Europe. His return to Thailand coincided with the protest in 2010 that resulted in the injury and death of many protestors. Along with seven other founding members from the faculty of Law, Piyabutr established the Nitirat Group on the basis of upholding democratic values. After contemplation, he decided to resign from his 16-year position as an Assistant Professor to co-found Future Forward Party and begin a political journey in order to uphold the values of democracy.

Fun Fact

Piyabutr is a Liverpool fan. However, during the world cup he cheers for the French national team as he has live in France for over 6 years. He has an interest in political philosophy and comparative politics. He loves wines and unhealthy food such as braised pork leg and rice. Piyabutr also takes his hairstyling very seriously.