Thai voters elect the progressive Move Forward Party to lead their country’s next government.But over a week later, powerful political rivals are blocking the party’s progress and forcing an early climbdown over the controversial royal defamation bill.
The leader of Thailand’s top vote-getting party said Thursday that a coalition government was “firmly taking shape,” although it appears that his proposed reform to the nation’s royal defamation law could prove a sticking point in negotiations
A few years ago, Chonticha “Lookkate” Jangrew braved tear gas and rubber bullets on the front lines of protests calling for reform of Thailand’s monarchy and its military-scripted constitution.
Sparring between Thailand’s two main pro-democracy parties may undermine their common goal of defeating the military-inclined ruling establishment in the May 14 general election, analysts said.
Thailand’s election in May could result in no party winning a clear mandate, likely forcing the longtime opposition Pheu Thai party and a military-backed one to form an alliance, Thai activists and academics told BenarNews this week.
Sudarat Keyuraphan, Pheu Thai’s prime ministerial candidate, announced the coalition Wednesday in Bangkok, claiming it had won at least 255 seats in the 500-seat chamber that were up for grabs in Sunday’s general election. As of Monday, initial results from the vote counting showed Pheu Thai winning 137 seats versus 97 seats for the military-backed Phalang Pracharat party
Voters headed to the polls across Thailand in a landmark election on Sunday. As Steve Sandford reports from Bangkok, initial results indicate the military-backed party is in the lead
Thailand’s powerful King Maha Vajiralongkorn issued a statement on the eve of the election that said the role of leaders is stop “bad people” from gaining power and causing chaos. Invoking a speech by his father, the previous Thai king who died in 2016 after reigning for seven decades,
As Pinit Ngarmpring, he was a CEO and sports promoter, well known in the world of Thai soccer. Now, under her preferred new name of Pauline Ngarmpring, she’s pursuing a bid to become the country’s first transgender prime minister
In addition to the Pheu Thai party aligned with ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and longtime rivals the Democrats, the pro-military Palang Pracharat Party will compete with several smaller parties