Follow Thai politics in English — government policy, elections, parliament and political developments, with reporting and analysis from Thai PBS World.
More than 2,000 police were deployed to provide protection for Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha when he visited Chiang Mai province today (Wednesday), but the sheer force of both uniform and plainclothes officers failed to stop the protests. A small group of protesters gathered in front of Chiang Mai airport to protest Prayut’s visit to
Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan has admitted that the popularity of the Palang Pracharath (PPRP), the core government party, has been declining, but says they are trying to fix the problem. Prawit, who is also leader of the party, said that he is not, however, concerned about the problem and is confident that it
Three hard core Talugas protesters, being held on remand, have tried to commit suicide, but were rescued and are now safe, Corrections Department Director-General Aryut Sinthoppan said today (Monday). He disclosed that one of the protesters, detained at the Bangkok Remand Prison, swallowed over 50 paracetamol pills, which he had gathered from friends in the
A long-smoldering corruption case has reignited after the Supreme Administrative Court recently ordered the heirs of late Bangkok governor Samak Sundaravej to pay 587 million baht in compensation for his role in procuring a fleet of firefighting vehicles. The 587 million baht is 30 percent of 1.95 billion baht – the difference between the equipment’s
The opposition Pheu Thai party has renewed its call for Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to revoke the Emergency Decree, claiming that the special law, which was imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19 more than two years ago, is no longer relevant because the status of the pandemic is steadily improving. Pheu Thai party leader
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has designated seven locations in the capital at which protesters can hold their rallies in an orderly manner, which will not cause public inconvenience or disturbance or infringe on other people’s rights. The seven areas are the Lan Khon Mueang town square, in front of the first City Hall in
Opposition MPs have voiced their frustration over the absence from the Lower House today (Thursday) of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha or any of his representatives to respond to an interpellation over the current economic problems, raised by Move Forward party leader Pita Limjaroenrat. Pita’s question was directed to the prime minister but, in his letter
Government and opposition MPs are preparing their cases for the next censure debate, tentatively scheduled for July 18th through 22nd, during which Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and ten ministers will be grilled by the opposition. This will be the fourth censure debate against Prayut and his cabinet since assuming office in mid-2019. All the ministers targeted
About 60 parliament police officers submitted a petition to House Speaker Chuan Leekpai today (Wednesday), to protest against the change of their uniform, claiming that it is a waste of taxpayers’ money because they received their previous newly-tailored uniforms only six months ago. The same petition was also submitted to the opposition chief whip Sutin
Anti-government protesters gathered at Bangkok’s Victory Monument at around 5:15pm today (Sunday), before marching to the Din Daeng area. Crowd control police are also on the move, to maintain order in the area, and are asking the protesters to stay on the footpaths. The Din Daeng intersection was closed to traffic for 10 minutes, but
Thailand’s “Red-shirt” followers packed the Ubon Ratchathani provincial airport this morning to welcome to Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who led key Pheu Thai party members on a campaign trip to wrestle back control of Si Sa Ket, following the defection of three MPs to the Bhumjaithai party. The three Si Sa Ket MPs had voted in support
Former Pheu Thai MP Nattawut Saikua has returned to the party as the director of the “Pheu Thai family”, whose first assignment is to visit the north-eastern province of Si Sa Ket to recruit new “family” members, with an ambitious aim at a landslide win in this province in the next general election. Nattawut, who
