Follow Thai politics in English — government policy, elections, parliament and political developments, with reporting and analysis from Thai PBS World.
Opposition Pheu Thai is the party with the best chance offorming the next government, followed by the Move Forward and the Palang Pracharath parties, according to a poll by the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) released today (Sunday). NIDA conducted an opinion poll on “Six Parties and Their Chances of Forming the Next Government”
House Speaker Chuan Leekpai has urged Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to meet with leaders of coalition parties to discuss ways to prevent the collapse of House meetings. He also urged all MPs to attend the meetings, so that bills pending in the House can be processed before the end of the parliamentary term on March
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said today (Friday) that he has never been involved in corruption throughout his career in government service and he does not tolerate corruption in the government’s bureaucracy. In his address to mark International Anti-Corruption Day today, he said that corruption in the bureaucracy mainlyrelates to procurement projects, the selling of positions
Two key members of Palang Pracharath, the core government party, have voiced disagreement with the suggested nomination of Mingkwan Saengsuwan as one of the party’s three candidates for the prime minister’s post in the next general election. Nakhon Sawan MP Veerakorn Kamprakob and Nakhon Si Thammarat MP Rong Boonsuaykhwane separately said yesterday (Wednesday) that the
The Progressive Movement-initiated bill to decentralise local administration, to allow greater autonomy for local administrations in managing their affairs, was rejected by a joint session of the House and Senate today (Wednesday). 254 legislators, including six senators, voted in support of the bill, which was seconded by 76,591 members of the public, while 245 voted
Thailand’s opposition Pheu Thai Party has unveiled its ambitious 10-point “think big” manifesto, which envisages, among other things, a minimum daily wage of 600 baht, a minimum monthly salary for a new graduates of 25,000 baht, an average annual income of 200,000 baht for every working citizen, a 5% annual economic growth rate and free
Former Commerce Minister Mingkwan Saengsuwan has formally joined the Palang Pracharath Party, reportedly to head its economic team. He was officially presented to the media today by Palang Pracharath Party Leader Prawit Wongsuwan, also deputy prime minister, who personally welcomed him to the party. Mingkwan said he was invited by General Prawit to join to
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said today (Tuesday) that he can occupy the office for more two years only and he promises to do his best so that he can pass the baton to a successor who is “recognised” by the public. The remark, which is the clearest self-declared indication yet of his political future, was
Government and opposition whips resorted to finger-pointing over the collapse of the House meeting today (Thursday), due to a lack of a quorum. The House was scheduled to vote on Section 9/1 of a bill to enable impeachment of administrators and councillors in local administrative organisations, which was supposed to be voted on last week.
Since the country’s first general election in November 1933 after becoming a constitutional monarchy, the elected House of Representatives has been dissolved 13 times – mostly following conflicts in coalition governments. However, the three last dissolutions came amid serious political crises that divided the country. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is expected to dissolve the current
The appointments of three new cabinet ministers have been published in the Royal Gazette today (Wednesday). Under Royal Command, former Government Spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana is appointed Minister of Prime Minister’s Office, Naris Khamnurak, a Democrat MP for Phatthalung Province, is the new Deputy Interior Minister and Palang Pracharath MP Sunthorn Pansaengthong is the new Deputy
The Constitutional Court ruled today (Wednesday) that using 100, instead of 500, as the divider in the formula for the calculation of party-list House seat allocation, as stipulated in the MP election bill, is not unconstitutional. Today, the court considered a petition, submitted by 105 MPs and senators, seeking a ruling on whether Sections 25
