Follow Thai politics in English — government policy, elections, parliament and political developments, with reporting and analysis from Thai PBS World.
Major and mid-sized parties wound-up their general election campaigns in Bangkok on Friday evening with pleas from their prime ministerial candidates to vote them into power. At the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre, United Thai Nation’s prime ministerial candidate, incumbent Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, told his supporters that, after eight years in office, he is
Today (Friday) is the last day the candidates vying for parliamentary seats in Sunday’s general election are allowed to campaign. Many major political parties have, therefore, organised major rallies around Bangkok. The ThaiPBS World website has published list of rally venues, and commuters should note that traffic is expected to be heavy in those areas.
PR teams of top prime ministerial candidates have gone into overdrive to woo voters in the final week before Thailand votes in Sunday’s general election. Opinion survey results released last week show the most popular PM candidate is Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat, followed by Pheu Thai’s Paetongtarn Shinawatra and incumbent Prime Minister Prayut
Army Commander-in-Chief Gen Narongpan Jitkaewtae has requested that the media to stop asking him about the possibility of another coup after the May 14th general election and to stop reporting speculation about a coup, noting that the word “coup” tends to cause political conflict and should be removed from media’s vocabularies. Asked about the Move
With only 3 days until the general election, Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat, and one of the favourites to be the next prime minister, is suddenly facing an uncertain political future, following an allegation that he owns undeclared shares in a media company, in violation of the Constitution. Political activist Ruangkrai Leekitwattana lodged a
Two former hunger strikers and seven other activists were arrested on Wednesday night after they allegedly went on a rampage through the Samran Rat police station, breaking a window, pouring paint on the station’s staircases and spray-painting two vehicles and the station’s walls. One police officer suffered a head injury, allegedly when he was hit
Major political parties are now making last-ditch efforts to win as many votes as possible with only days to go before the general election on Sunday. No matter what pollsters are saying, each of them refuses to surrender in their bid to win power at the May 14 national vote. The main contenders in the race are
An estimated minimum of 120 billion baht will be spent on election-related activities, which is twice the amount previously estimated, according to the Business and Economic Forecast Centre of the University of Thai Chamber of Commerce. The centre said its forecast for spending by all political parties on election-related activities is in line with Bank
A Thai senator has alleged that there is a conspiracy involving members of Thai non-governmental organizations behind a draft resolution in the US Senate calling for an abrogation of Article 112 and opposing possible military intervention in Thailand’s politics. The draft resolution, submitted recently to the US Senate on Foreign Relations, states that “direct or
Move Forward Party “fever” is now spreading from online to on the ground, with its popularity clearly rising in the run-up to the May 14 election. Loud cheers and long applause erupt wherever its leader Pita Limjaroenrat turns up these days. Observers say no other contesting political leader has been able to whip up such a phenomenon.
Over one million people have signed an online campaign, launched by the change.org website, demanding the ouster of Thailand’s Election Commission (EC) over a series of problems and errors allegedly committed by election officials during advance voting yesterday (Sunday). The alleged errors and problems range from the writing of incorrect zip codes on 148 envelopes
The Pheu Thai party holds no grudge against the Move Forward party and they could work together in the same coalition government, on the condition that the Move Forward party will not seek to repeal Section 112 of the Criminal Code, or the lèse majesté law, said Pheu Thai party’s prime ministerial candidate, Paetongtarn Shinawatra.
