Follow Thai politics in English — government policy, elections, parliament and political developments, with reporting and analysis from Thai PBS World.
Thailand’s Senate overwhelmingly voted in favour of the executive decree to transfer some army units and budget to the Royal Security Command, which is tasked with providing security to the Royal Family. 223 senators voted in favour, with three abstentions. The decree will be returned to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to be presented to His
After 3 days of debate, the Government’s 3.2 trillion baht 2020 fiscal budget bill sailed through its first reading in the House of Representatives today (Saturday), with 251 MPs voting in support of the bill and 234 abstaining. Those abstaining included every Opposition MP.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said today (Saturday) that he was satisfied with the deliberations over the budget bill in the past two days and promised to act upon the constructive suggestions proffered by the Opposition. Regarding the 400 billion baht allocated for the Central Fund, the Prime Minister admitted that the figures look prohibitively high,
Future Forward party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit told the Constitutional Court today that he is determined to pursue his political career free from conflicts of interest, so he will not suffer the same fate as fugitive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. He also said that he wanted democracy to be restored in Thailand and to see
The Government’s 3.2 trillion baht budget bill for 2020 fiscal year passed the first reading in the House of Representatives Saturday night, after three days of debate, with 251 MPs voting for and all 234 Opposition MPs abstaining. The Opposition’s chief whip, Mr. Suthin Klangsaeng, said in his closing speech that Opposition MPs found it
Future Forward party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit has offered an apology for invoking the name of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra during his defence in the media ownership case before the Constitutional Court today (Friday), blaming the atmosphere in the courtroom for his “miscommunication”. In his defence, he reportedly said that he wanted to pursue a
The Constitutional Court is set to issue a ruling in Future Forward party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit’s media share ownership case on November 20th. The court completed its inquiry today (Friday) with the questioning of ten defence witnesses, including Thanathorn. Both Thanathorn and the Election Commission, which filed the case with the Constitutional Court, were given
LONDON (AP) — After winning the backing of European Union leaders for his new Brexit deal , Prime Minister Boris Johnson was in London Friday looking to secure enough support to get the deal through the fractious British Parliament. Johnson returned overnight for what is expected to be a busy day attempting to persuade lawmakers to
The Constitutional Court today (Friday) opened its inquiry into Future Forward party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit’s media shareholding case. Thanathorn and nine other defence witnesses are lined up to be questioned by the judges today. A court official said they expect to complete the questioning of all ten witnesses today, but, if this is not possible,
Members of parliament have been reminded of the dignity and status of the parliament chamber, and the need to maintain cleanliness, after it was discovered that the chamber was littered with trash, food scraps and food containers following the first day of the marathon debate on the budget bill yesterday. House Speaker Chuan Leekpai issued
Both Government and Opposition MPs, with the exception of 70 from the Future Forward party, today voted in support of an executive decree to transfer some army troops and funding to the Royal Security Command. Three Future Forward MPs, namely Ms. Kawinnart Takee of Chon Buri, Mr. Charoek Sri-on of Chanthaburi and Pol Lt-Col Thanapat
General Prayut Chan-o-cha’s premiership is legal under Sections 160 (6) and 98 (15) of the Constitution after the nine-member Constitution Court ruled that he is not an “other state official” (a formal technical description in Thailand) and is, therefore, qualified to hold the post of Prime Minister. The charter court’s ruling was issued on September
