Follow Thai politics in English — government policy, elections, parliament and political developments, with reporting and analysis from Thai PBS World.
Two Thai hunger strikers, Tantawan Tuatulanon and Orawan Phuphong, left Thammasat University Hospital this afternoon (Friday) for the Supreme Court, to continue their hunger strike. The two young pro-democracy activists were wheeled out of the hospital on gurneys and were taken by ambulance to the Supreme Court. They had been treated at the hospital for
Move Forward Party Leader Pita Limjaroenrat and Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, former secretary-general of the now defunct Future Forward Party, are engaged in a spat over the former’s prediction of a landslide general election victory for his party. In his Facebook post, Piyabutr, currently a key member of the Progressive Movement, said that the landslide victory may
The Constitutional Court is scheduled to issue a ruling on March 3rd on whether non-Thais can be included as part of the population in the calculation of the number of constituency MPs for each province in Thailand. An informed source said that the Constitutional Court agreed, at a meeting today (Tuesday), to accept the petition
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha indicated today (Tuesday) that he may dissolve Thailand’s House of Representatives in early March. Speaking to reporters at Government House, he said he was briefed this morning by Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam on the dos and don’ts for a caretaker government, in the event of a House dissolution – an
A recent opinion poll puts Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and Paethongtarn Shinawatra, a potential prime minister candidate of opposition Pheu Thai Party, on top of the list of prime minister preferences in the upcoming general election but their popularity gap has shrunk. The Super Poll, a private polling and research agency, said the opinion poll
Rights groups are up in arms over the government’s delay in implementing key provisions of the new torture and forced disappearance prevention act, citing a frivolous reason, such as lack of equipment. The Cabinet on February 14 approved a decree to postpone the implementation of articles 22 to 25 of the “Act on Prevention and Suppression
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha indicated for the first time on Thursday that he will dissolve the House before it completes its current term in late March. “I have a date in mind already,” he said, but declined to elaborate. Prayut was speaking to reporters at the end of the two-day House debate, during which he
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has responded to Opposition MPs’ allegations of economic mismanagement, loss opportunities and money by Thailand and poor performance during his administration on the first day of the general debate Wednesday. The prime minister cited various mega infrastructure projects, implemented between 2015 and 2019, such as the Bang Pa-in-Korat, Bang Yai-Kanchanaburi and
Thailand, under the leadership of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, is a decade of lost money, opportunity and precious time, said Move Forward Party Leader Pita Limjaroenrat in the ongoing Opposition debate against the current administration. Emphasising the importance of this final such debate of the current parliament, he said that even though there is no
Opposition MPs began a House debate against the Prayut government this morning (Wednesday), in what is seen as a prelude to this year’s general election. The House of Representatives was able to proceed with the debate despite earlier fears that many government MPs would boycott the session to deny it a needed quorum. Opposition leader
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is expected to bear the brunt of heavy opposition attacks during a general debate targeting the Cabinet on Wednesday and Thursday (Feb 15-16). PM Prayut will have to fend off attacks without the usual protection from MPs of the ruling Palang Pracharath Party – which nominated him as its sole PM
The Election Commission (EC) decided today (Tuesday) to ask the Constitutional Court to rule whether non-Thais can be included in the population for the calculation of the number of constituency MPs for each respective province. There will be a total of 400 constituency MPs and 100 party-list MPs in the House following the forthcoming general
