An army of 60 members of the Sam Mitr group led by two former ministers, Somsak Thepsuthin and Suriya Jungroongruangkit, flocked to the pro-government Palang Pracharat party at the Shangri-La hotel in Bangkok on Sunday to apply for memberships.
Suriya, a former member of the dissolved Thai Rak Thai party, said he decided to return to politics after about ten years of absence after being “convinced” by someone whom he holds in high respect.
Asked whether the Sam Mitr goup will support General Prayut Chan-o-cha as the next prime minister, Suriya was elusive, saying that the party’s executive board would decide on the matter.
Somsak, meanwhile, claimed that most of the 60 Sam Mitr group members who formally joined the Palang Pracharat party today had a good chance of winning the election.
Former Yasothon MP Ronritthichai Kankhet, meanwhile, claimed that Suchart Tancharoen, a former core member of the Ban Rim Nam faction of the defunct Thai Rak Thai party, would join the Palang Pracharat party in the next few days.
Ronritthichai and about 30 members of the group applied for membership registration of the pro-government party at the Shangri-La hotel on Sunday.
