Thai election: can Shinawatras keep it in the family, again?

It’s nearly voting time in Thailand (if the junta doesn’t blink) and that means just one thing: Shinawatra family members seeking election

But not everyone is convinced the family that’s won every election since 2001 has the pulling power it once did

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Panthongtae, or “Oak”, Thaksin’s 39-year-old only son, is the latest Shinawatra to be standing for election. Photo: AFP

Published: 1:00pm, 20 Jan 2019Updated: 1:52pm, 21 Mar 2019

Will it be on March 10? Or March 24? After May 7, maybe?

The guessing game on when Thailand’s dithering military junta will hold long-delayed elections has the country’s political class gritting their teeth – some even contemplating public protests in Bangkok this weekend over the matter, even at the risk of arrest.

With a top junta official on Thursday giving the firmest indication yet that the military rulers hope for polls on March 24, analysts say they are contemplating a deeper question: when the elections are eventually held, will the Shinawatra clan – triumphant in every electoral contest since 2001 in the coup-happy kingdom – emerge victorious once again?

Thailand’s former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Photo: Reuters

The Pheu Thai party machinery, loyal to former prime ministers Thaksin and his younger sister Yingluck Shinawatra, has been purring since December when the military rulers’ lifted a ban on political activity.

But observers are no longer quite so sure about its popularity or tactical prowess.

Its strategy of employing pro-poor policies along with banking on the Shinawatra family name – by fielding members of the clan – could backfire, long-time Thaksin watchers like Duncan McCargo say.

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