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…
Read MoreOpposition 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…
Read MoreHouse 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…
Read MorePrime 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…
Read MoreMorally, it’s undisputed. Economically, it’s questionable. Politically, it’s a no-no. All of them, of course, come with a big “Unless”. That’s how Thailand should proceed with the Pheu Thai Party’s…
Read MoreThe 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…
Read MoreSince 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…
Read MoreThailand’s Progressive Movement has expressed hope that its draft Bill, to amend Section 147 of the Constitution and decentralise local administration, will pass its first reading inthe joint session of…
Read MoreThe Dusit District Court in Bangkok acquitted six anti-establishment Ratsadon protest leaders yesterday (Monday) of defying the Emergency Decree and the law on public assembly, in connection with a protest…
Read MorePrime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has indicated that he might order a minor cabinet reshuffle before the New Year. The prime minister was challenged by a group of reporters at Impact…
Read MoreThe Democrat Party’s ongoing dramatic decline is down to the hierarchical structure and culture of seniority in the country’s oldest political outfit, say analysts, who warn that only radical reform…
Read MoreEligible voters in Thailand’s central region favour Paetongtarn Shinawatra, youngest daughter of fugitive former Prime Minister Thaksin, as Thailand’s next prime minister and the Pheu Thai Party to govern, according…
Read MoreThe Thai House of Representatives voted unanimously today (Thursday) to propose that the cabinet holds a referendum, to gauge the opinions of the Thai people about the drafting of a…
Read MoreOpposition parties plan to ask Thailand’s Election Commission (EC) to dissolve the Bhumjaithai Party, for alleged violation of the Political Parties Act, over its policy to decriminalise cannabis. Opposition leader…
Read MoreNewly-elected leader of the Chart Pattana Kla Party, Korn Chatikavanij, has vowed to overhaul the Thai economy and bureaucracy, to bring prosperity and a better future for all Thais, with…
Read MoreThe Move Forward Party, a political party known for its anti-establishment stance, has proposed a series of reforms as its platform for the next general elections that include amending the…
Read MoreNewin Chidchob, a veteran politician and the unofficial patriarch of Bhumjaithai Party, pledged Tuesday to help Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to become prime minister after the next general elections….
Read MoreThailand’s Constitutional Court and its offices have been declared restricted areas from 7pm Thursday night until 6am on Monday, ahead of the court’s ruling on the 8-year term in office…
Read MoreThe Chart Pattana party was officially renamed Chart Pattana Kla party at its extraordinary general meeting in the north-eastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima today (Monday). Former Kla party leader Korn…
Read MoreMembers of the For the National Party (Pheu Chart) elected a new 15-member executive committee yesterday (Saturday) with Pawitsarat Tiyapairat as the new party leader. Daughter of former House Speaker…
Read MoreDeputy Interior Minister Nipon Boonyamanee has resigned from his post to face trial in the Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases on a charge of malfeasance, for his refusal…
Read MoreOne of Thailand’s former Finance Ministers, Somkid Jatusripitak, has quit as chairman and director of Saha Pathana Inter-Holding Plc (SPI), effective August 31st, apparently with the intention to join the…
Read MoreThailand’s core opposition party, Pheu Thai, will stay away from the joint special sitting of the House and Senate tomorrow (Monday), being convened to deliberate the final reading of the…
Read MoreThe bill to amend the organic law on the election of MPs, which seeks to return to using 500 seats as the basis for the calculation of party-list seats in…
Read MoreExiled former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has won a tax case, involving the Revenue Department, after the Central Tax Court ruled that the department’s order for his two children…
Read MoreThe opposition Move Forward party is demanding an explanation from the army over its spending of more than seven million baht to hire the National Science and Technology Development Agency…
Read MoreThe ethical and disciplinary committee of the opposition Pheu Thai party will consider how to deal with seven dissident MPs, who voted in support of the government’s budget bill forthe…
Read MoreThe Pheu Thai Party has a strong cause for celebration. Move Forward, if it wants to celebrate as well, must do so cautiously. The Democrats still have their work cut…
Read MoreA deputy leader of the Democrat Party, Prinn Panitchpakdi, announced his resignation from all posts in the party today (Thursday), as he categorically denied multiple allegations of sexual harassment on…
Read MoreThe coalition Democrat Party has seen several high-profile defections over recent weeks, as politicians prepare for the next general election. In fact, the phenomenon dubbed “Democrat bleeding” by the media…
Read MoreFor outspoken student activist Netiwit “Frank” Chotiphatphaisal, last week’s decision by Chulalongkorn University executives to remove him as its Student Government president was comparable to a coup. The decision was…
Read MoreThailand’s Public Health Minister and Bhumjaithai Party Leader Anutin Charnvirakul maintained today (Tuesday) that Ekkarat Changlao and his son Wattana, both former MPs of the ruling Palang Pracharath Party and…
Read MoreThree years after accepting Palang Pracharath’s invitation to stand as its candidate for prime minister, Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha faces a stark choice: Remain with the ruling party and risk political…
Read MoreWhen future historians deal with political “colors” in Thailand, the first thing they will probably need to do is acquaint themselves with words like “Burgundy”, or “Carmine”, or “Amaranth”, or…
Read MoreOnce a red-shirt leader dubbed “Isan Rambo”, Seksakol Atthawong has made yet another political pivot, leaving the ruling Palang Pracharath to join a new party aiming to secure Prime Minister…
Read MoreThailand’s self-proclaimed pro-democracy movement has experienced another crack in their ranks, after key Pheu Thai supporter “Kam Phaka” referred to Move Forward Party’s supporters as “Salim Phase 2”. Salim is…
Read MorePredictions of defeat for the ruling Palang Pracharath Party were being made several days before last Sunday’s Constituency 9 by-election in Bangkok, but few analysts expected such a devastating loss….
Read MoreIt was a peculiar electoral outcome that “winners” may celebrate cautiously and some “losers” can find encouraging. Ballots cast in Bangkok’s Laksi and Chatuchak districts on Sunday show that races…
Read MoreInterior Minister Gen Anupong Phaochinda today hinted at the possibility that the long-awaited Bangkok governor election could be held in May this year. He said an election for the mayor…
Read MorePheu Thai party leader Chonlanan Srikaew is urging Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to dissolve parliament and to hold a snap election, noting that the defeat of the ruling Palang Pracharat…
Read MorePheu Thai Party’s candidate Surachart Thienthong has claimed victory in Bangkok’s Constituency 9 by-election in what is seen as a blow to the ruling Palang Pracharat Party which dominated the…
Read MoreSarng Anacot Thai Party, the new political party launched last week by former economic ministers in the current government, lacks the magnetic pull to win the hearts of people, say…
Read MoreThamanat Prompow’s ouster from the ruling Palang Pracharath Party last week for “causing serious division” was only the latest twist in this political dealmaker’s rollercoaster career. Palang Pracharath’s surprising and…
Read MorePalang Pracharath Party’s move to expel secretary-general Thammanat Prompao and 20 other MPs under his control is more of a political soap opera than an actual split, analysts say. It’s…
Read MoreLast Sunday’s by-elections in the southern provinces of Songkhla and Chumphon saw fierce battles between the ruling Palang Pracharath and Democrat Party coalition partners. Victory went to the Democrats, who…
Read MoreThailand’s political situation used to be straightforward in the recent past. The Democrats being up against the Shinawatra camp made elections easy to contest and predict. The former were guaranteed…
Read MoreThe Democrat and Palang Pracharat parties have been engaging in a fierce war of words over two vacant parliamentary seats, both up for grabs in by-elections in Songkhla’s Constituency 6…
Read MoreThe Jan 30 by-election in Bangkok’s Constituency 9 will see a riveting battle between the coalition and opposition camps, but also between uneasy allies within the same bloc. Analysts say…
Read MoreFormer prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is seen by most neutral observers as the de-facto leader and patriarch of opposition party Pheu Thai. But the party has always insisted it is…
Read MoreBefore the birth of the youth-led protest movement in 2020, criticism of the monarchy and calls for changes to the institution were only limited to academia. But after the movement…
Read MoreThai political parties have undergone change, evolution and even transformation in the past year, ahead of a general election expected in the coming year. Parties large and small – as…
Read MorePoliticians and activists have attempted to change the Thai Constitution repeatedly over the past year, but only one of the 21 amendment bills managed to clear the obstacle course set…
Read MoreThe Thai cabinet decided today (Tuesday) to suspend the implementation of the controversial industrial estate project in Chana district of the southern province of Songkhla, pending a new Strategic Environmental…
Read MoreAfter decades of shining bright in Thailand’s engineering and educational sectors, Prof Dr Suchatvee Suwansawat is now ready to kick-start his political career. The academic is preparing to contest in…
Read MorePolice closed roads to traffic near the Government House in Bangkok this morning (Monday), in anticipation of the arrival of protesters from Songkhla province’s Chana district. Police were seen manning…
Read MoreA draft law seeking to repeal the post-coup junta’s executive orders is the latest attempt by civil society to uproot the legacy of the military government which ruled from May…
Read MorePolite words sometimes could not paper over big conflicts in politics, so Pheu Thai and Move Forward speaking nicely to each other or referring to each other amicably regarding the…
Read MoreDemocratic reformists in Thailand have hit a brick wall, after two constitutional amendment bills proposed by civic groups were rejected by Parliament in the space of a year. Politicians and…
Read MoreDeputy director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) David Cohen had about 45 minutes of closed door discussions with Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha during an unscheduled meeting at…
Read MoreThis week’s demise of a charter amendment bill sold as “of the people” is not a surprise, but what is bewildering is why people who matter continue to keep away…
Read MoreThailand needs to have a lèse majesté law for national security. It acts as a defamation law for the royal family. The existing version is, however, too short and needs…
Read MoreThe Thai police have not resorted to the use of lethal weapons including live rounds in dealing with anti-establishment protesters, and that only rubber bullets were used, according to Deputy…
Read MoreFormer election commissioner Somchai Srisutthiyakorn has predicted that there is only a slim chance that the People’s Constitution draft, scheduled to be debated in a joint session of parliament on…
Read MoreLast week’s controversial Constitutional Court verdict is likely to rekindle Thailand’s political conflict and fan the flames among anti-establishment groups already furious over legal action stemming from the lèse-majesté law,…
Read MoreThe news of the demise of eminent economist Virabongsa Ramangkura on November 7 was received with a deep sense of loss across the country. Numerous Facebook pages were filled with condolences. Virabongsa…
Read MoreThailand’s Constitutional Court turned down the request, by the three anti-establishment leaders, for the submission of additional oral evidence because it has already completed a year-long investigation under the inquisitorial…
Read MoreA shocking act of violence shattered the atmosphere in Chulalongkorn University’s auditorium 68 years ago. Jit Poumisak, then a third-year Arts student and editor of CU’s “University” periodical, was addressing…
Read MoreThailand’s oldest political party had been there before. By that, before the catastrophic last general election, the Democrats had gone through all kinds of lows, be it devastating insurrection, disastrous…
Read MoreA bitter conflict with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has resulted in Thammanat Prompao’s ouster from the Cabinet and civil war breaking out between rival factions in the ruling Palang Pracharath…
Read MoreThailand’s opposition Move Forward Party announced its determination to push for amendments of the lèse majesté law (Section 112 of the Criminal Code), warning that, if the law remains in…
Read MoreIn politics, a man’s good news is another man’s bad one. However, here’s doom and gloom for all: Long-lasting national peace will remain very remote no matter what happens from…
Read MoreAfter seven years out of government, the Shinawatra family appears to be keen on making a comeback. Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the youngest daughter of former prime minister Thaksin, made a surprise…
Read MoreA Constitutional Court ruling due to be issued on Wednesday (Oct 20) holds the key to the political future of the ruling Palang Pracharath Party’s legal expert Paiboon Nititawan, with big impacts…
Read MoreUproar over the recent killing of a drug suspect by police investigators has revived debate on the need for a law banning torture and killings by state officials. And the…
Read MoreAn early general election has become more likely after Parliament voted on Friday (September 10) to approve a charter amendment bill that restores the two-ballot election system and alters the…
Read MoreThe ethics committee of Thailand’s opposition Pheu Thai party decided today (Monday) to propose to the party’s executive committee the expulsion of two rebel MPs who did not vote in…
Read MoreHalfway through their government’s four-year term, Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha and his brothers in arms – Gen Prawit Wongsuwan and Gen Anupong Paochinda – apparently have no choice but to change tack…
Read MoreRenegade Pheu Thai MP Sarunvuth Sarunkate, of Thailand’s northern province of Uttaradit, admitted today (Saturday) that he defied the party whip, to vote against Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, by abstaining…
Read MoreThailand’s Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha has refuted the Opposition’s claim that his government should be held accountable for all the COVID-19 deaths, as a result of its failures in managing…
Read MoreThailand’s House Speaker Chuan Leekpai has ordered a formal investigation into the allegation, made by Pheu Thai MP Visarn Techateerawat, that a group of MPs each received a five-million-baht bribe…
Read MoreRival Thai politicians and their supporters are gambling on how the country’s COVID-19 situation will pan out in the immediate future. If it gets worse significantly or improves remarkably, nothing…
Read MoreSeri Ruam Thai party leader Pol Gen Seripisut Temiyavet has accused Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha of being the biggest borrower and spender of all Thailand’s prime ministers and of being…
Read MorePrime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is bracing for his third censure debate this week when he and five other Cabinet members will be grilled by opposition politicians. The attacks will center…
Read MoreRecent weeks have seen the emergence of youth-led violent protests at Bangkok’s Din Daeng intersection – in what observers view as a strategy to help support the mainly peaceful anti-establishment…
Read MoreTanat Thanakitamnuay was addressing a crowd of anti-government protesters in Bangkok on August 13 when he was hit by a projectile that his family says permanently blinded him in one…
Read MoreAs a prolific writer and editor, Suchart Sawasdsri was honored with the role of the national artist (literature) in 2011. However, as a keen political observer and critic, he is…
Read MorePolice are under fire over their handling of anti-government protesters who have taken to the streets almost daily since early this month. The methods being used by police are viewed…
Read MoreThailand’s House of Representatives passed the Public Health Ministry’s (MoPH) 37.6 billion baht budget for the 2022 fiscal year, in its second reading today (Saturday), by 242:124 votes,despite opposition MPs’…
Read MorePolitics, whether it’s an extreme dictatorship, mild fascism, or full-blown democracy, is all about magnifying opponents’ faults and belittling your own in the full glare of the public. Motives are to…
Read MoreHard-core anti-establishment protesters fought street battles with the police, throwing their “ping pong” bombs, bricks and other hard objects, in response to the police use of teargas, water cannons and…
Read MoreThailand’s Civil Court rejected an application for an injunction forbidding the police from using rubber bullets against anti-establishment protesters, citing the necessity under the State of Emergency to bring “emergencies”…
Read MoreAnti-government protesters, led by the “United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration” group on Tuesday issued five demands, and urged all officials to rebel against the government and all businesses to…
Read MoreThere are anti-government protests scheduled to take place in Bangkok and in several other provinces today (Saturday). While the police have already set up barricades with razor wire and shipping containers…
Read More32 anti-government protesters, belonging to the “Talu Fah” group, were arrested yesterday, Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau Pol Maj-Gen Piya Tavichai confirmed today (Tuesday), while Amnesty International (AI)…
Read MoreFormer classmates, who studied at the Faculty of Communication Arts of Chulalongkorn University with, both twin daughters of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, have asked them to tell their father to…
Read MoreThe answer will depend primarily on the COVID-19 numbers at Thailand’s popular island resort. But how the Prayut administration will look coming out of a potential Phuket nightmare will also…
Read MoreCalling people out has become popular among Thai social-media users in recent times, and now they are pressuring local celebrities and stars to take a stance – usually on political…
Read MoreOnce a darling of the anti-establishment movement, Nuttaa “Bow” Mahattana is now being denounced as a traitor to the cause – though the human rights activist insists she is just…
Read More