Thailand’s main opposition party relaunched on Friday with a new name and leader, after its old version won the popular vote in last year’s elections but was forced by a court to disband this week.
The People’s Party will be led by 37-year-old tech entrepreneur Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, who vowed to set up a “change government” in time for the 2027 election.
“I’m not perfect but I am ready to improve myself to prepare for the PM role,” he said.
Thailand’s Constitutional Court voted unanimously on Wednesday to dissolve the Move Forward Party (MFP), the vanguard of the country’s youthful pro-democracy movement, and ban its executive board members from politics for 10 years.
Among those barred was 43-year-old Pita Limjaroenrat, who led the reformist MFP to a surprising first place finish in last year’s general election, after resonating with young and urban voters through his pledge to reform Thailand’s strict royal defamation law.
Pita’s political career had already been shaken in March when Thailand’s election commission asked the top court to dissolve the MFP.
That followed a ruling that the party’s pledge to reform the lese-majeste law amounted to an attempt to overthrow the constitutional monarchy.
Lese-majeste charges are extremely serious in Thailand, where King Maha Vajiralongkorn enjoys a quasi-divine status that places him above politics.
The European Union, United States, United Nations and human rights groups blasted the court’s decision, which the EU said harmed democratic openness in Thailand.
– ‘Weaponisation’ –
Natthaphong has more than 10 years of experience in computer science and IT business, according to his Linkedin profile.
Hours after its launch, the new party had received more than 6.5 million baht ($185,000) in donations and 13,000 membership applications, according to its website.
Party representative Parit Wacharasindhu said there was “still space” to talk about the lese-majeste law, even though the Constitutional Court had dissolved the MFP due to it campaigning to reform the laws.
“What we saw as a problem in lese-majeste is still a problem now,” Parit said, when asked about the party’s stance on the laws.
In an interview with AFP before he was banned from politics, Pita warned against the weaponisation of Thailand’s judicial system.
He said that 33 parties had been dissolved over the past two decades, including “four major ones that were popularly elected”.
Thailand, Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, is known for its chronic instability, with a dozen coups since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932.
The Constitutional Court is due to deliver another major decision next Wednesday, on accusations that Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin violated ethical rules by appointing a minister who had served time in prison.
An unfavourable ruling could force Srettha out of office after just a year.
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