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On Tuesday, August 22, both houses of Thailand’s parliament recently voted in real estate tycoon Srettha Thavisin as the country’s new Prime Minister (PM). Before becoming a tycoon, Srettha received education in both the United Kingdom and the United States, where he received his master’s in finance from Claremont Graduation School. Thavisin, despite being quite new to politics, was the only candidate put forth by Pheu Thai, a major populist party that’s existed for over two decades in the country. In the end, Thavisin earned 482 votes out of a possible 747, leaving a landslide victory. However, the road to getting all of those votes was quite a shaky one.
Originally in the May elections, the anti-military Move Forward party received the most seats in the country’s houses. The party had garnered a lot of support from the Thai populace, especially its youth, who wanted to see an end to pro-military and pro-royalist governments in Thailand. Together, with other opposition parties including Pheu Thai, Move Forward made a giant coalition with a combined 308 seats, which was still a couple dozen short of the required 376 to vote for a candidate.
Unfortunately, no matter how many seats the party may obtain in the House of Representatives, the country’s Senate is still entirely chosen by the Thai military, which would prove to be the party’s downfall. Twice, Thai governmental elites would reject the prime ministerial bid of Move Foward’s candidate, Pita Limjaroenrat, causing Pheu Thai to abandon the coalition.
Although it managed to convince a few other parties to form a new alliance, it still was a bit short of its needed votes. Pheu Thai struck a deal with Palang Pracharath and the United Thai Nation Party in which they would vote for Thavisin in exchange for ministerial roles. However, both parties are associated with outgoing PM Prayut Chan-o-Cha, a coup leader linked to the military junta that removed Pheu Thai’s former democratic government in 2006.
To many supporters of Move Forward and Pheu Thai, this was seen as the party going back on its word to not work with pro-military parties. According to a survey conducted by the National Institute of Development Administration shortly after the results were released, 64% of the over 1000 respondents disapproved of Pheu Thai forming a government with military-backed parties.
Not only that, but Thaksin Shinawatra, former Thai prime minister, returned to the country for the first time in 17 years since he was ousted from power in 2006. Thaksin was the one who founded Pheu Thai, and many supporters came out dressed in red t-shirts to welcome him shortly before the parliamentary vote. However, a warrant was issued for his arrest before he left the country due to corruption charges, so now he sits in jail to begin serving his eight-year sentence. Many question why Thaksin decided to come back now after almost 17 years, with a possible explanation being that since his party was now back in power, he could hope for a lighter prison sentence.
Although the new government won’t be entirely democratic due to its needed support from a few military parties, it’s still better than dealing with a junta government to many Thais. “Thailand is in desperate need of a better-performing government, a more competent government,” said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a professor of political science at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.
Srettha has stated that he will focus on stimulating the Thai economy, as well as making same-sex marriage more legal. “I will do my job to the best of my ability,” said Srettha.
Sources:
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/22/asia/thailand-new-prime-minister-srettha-thavisin-intl-hnk/index.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/08/21/thailand-thaksin-pheu-thai-election-srettha/
The Snapper 