No less than 10 political parties secured a single seat in last Sunday’s general election, up from seven at the previous national vote three years ago.
Of these 10 micro parties, nine won a seat in the 100-MP party-list system while one won in the 400-seat constituency poll, according to initial results released by the Election Commission (EC).
Micro parties have often wielded influence beyond their size in Thai politics, helping to prop up coalition governments in exchange for leverage over budgets and policy decisions.
The 10 minnows that emerged victorious in the February 8 election will now be weighing their options as poll winner Bhumjaithai moves to assemble a ruling coalition.
Missing the target
The New Opportunity Party claimed its sole seat in Uttaradit province’s Constituency 2, where its candidate Rosarin Saranket emerged victorious.
However, the party fell far short of the 25 seats targeted by its leader, bureaucrat-turned-politician Jatuporn Buruspat, also its main prime ministerial candidate.
Rosarin, 49, is the daughter of Saranwut Saranket, a former MP for the northern province. Saranwut ran for a party-list seat but fell short when New Opportunity failed to win enough votes.
Thai Pakdee’s No 1 list candidate and sole PM candidate, Dr Warong Dechgitvigrom, was on course to become the party’s only MP, with 95% of the ballots counted.
Warong, 64, earned a reputation as an anti-corruption crusader after exposing evidence of graft in the Yingluck Shinawatra government’s rice-pledging scheme while serving as a Democrat MP.
He left the Democrats in 2019 and co-founded Thai Pakdee, which is described as conservative, nationalist, and royalist. The party contested its first election in 2023 but failed to win any seats.
Seree Ruam Thai (Thai Liberal)’s sole MP seat goes to party leader and former police chief Sereepisut Temiyavej, its top list candidate and only prime ministerial nominee.
Despite adopting a strong anti-corruption stance under the slogan “Honest people, honest nation”, the party failed to improve on its 2023 election performance.
Sereepisut, 77, was known for targeting crime bosses and communist insurgents while in the police force. He entered politics in 2013, finishing third in Bangkok’s gubernatorial election. The ex-top cop founded Seree Ruam Thai in the same year, serving as its leader ever since.
The New Alternative Party will see Rachen Trakunwiang, its 63-year-old first PM candidate and party list topper, become its only representative in Parliament.
New Alternative turned heads with a string of unusual policy pledges, including allowing women up to four husbands and sending a Thai spacecraft to Mars and Venus within the next 12 years.
The party’s front man, Mongkolkit Suksintharanon, who is its secretary general and second PM candidate, failed to make the cut as No 3 candidate on the party list.
The Thai Subthawee Party fielded just three candidates in the list system but achieved success with its top pick and 60-year-old leader, Thaweesub Tatsamai. Based in Lopburi province, the two-year-old party did not nominate a PM candidate.
Four seats in four elections
The New Democracy Party secured a seat for its No 1 list candidate, Surathin Phicharn, who is also the party’s leader and sole PM candidate.
Surathin, 66, has served as New Democracy’s sole list MP for two terms. His party, founded in 2011, has managed to join government coalitions after winning just one seat in each of the past three elections. This is its fourth successive success.
The New Dimension Party will be represented in Parliament by Preecha Khaikaew, its 64-year-old leader and top list candidate. The party, founded in 2021, did not nominate a prime ministerial candidate.
Ruam Jai Thai, founded just three years ago, will send Bunravee Yomchinda, the party’s 74-year-old leader and top list candidate, to the lower House.
Ruam Palang Prachachon, whose slogan is “From the people, by the people, for the people”, fielded only 14 candidates – four in constituencies and 10 on its party list.
Apivich Thippharath, 55, won as the party’s No 1 list candidate, leader and main PM candidate.
Despite adopting “People's Power” as its English name, the party has no connections with Pheu Thai’s predecessor, the People's Power Party, which was in power in 2008.
The four-year-old New Party was among the seven parties that secured a single seat in 2023 and repeated that result in the February 8 election. It will be represented by Nawinda Sawatdejdee, 42, the party’s No 1 list candidate.
