Anutin’s Conservative Victory in Thailand

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has declared victory in the general election, with preliminary results showing his conservative ruling coalition far ahead of other competitors in parliament.

Anutin’s Bhumjaithai Party is projected to win 194 of the 500 parliamentary seats counted so far, while the People’s Party comes second with 116 seats, and the Pheu Thai Party of the Shinawatra family is expected to win 86 seats. Anutin stated that his victory belongs to all Thai people and successfully transformed what was once a small provincial party into a powerful election machine. His victory benefited from his local power network, the inclusion of well-known technocrats in the campaign core team, and his emphasis on nationalist and conservative values, including defending the monarchy and military.

The reformist People’s Party performed better under the proportional representation system but could not make up for its lack of local organization. The Shinawatra family’s Pheu Thai Party saw a sharp decline in seats due to the former leader’s imprisonment and mismanagement of last year’s border conflict with Cambodia. Anutin is expected to continue as prime minister, keeping Thailand’s political landscape under conservative control in the short term. Even though the opposition did not secure an absolute majority, it remains willing to perform its parliamentary oversight role.