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Aidan Jones

Two weeks after an election that was called to cut through Thailand’s political stalemate, much is still in doubt.
The threat of annulment hangs over the entire vote, while the final shape of Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s governing coalition is still being formed.
The February 8 poll, called by Anutin’s caretaker government to seek a fresh mandate, aimed to halt the revolving door at Government House that saw three prime ministers come and go in just two years.
In that time, an economy that was once the star of Southeast Asia has slowed to its weakest growth in decades.

Anutin’s Bhumjaithai stormed to a surprise victory at the poll, emerging as the largest party with more than 190 seats. Most voters, for the first time in a generation, actively turned to conservative leadership to tackle economic woes and end years of political upheaval.
The result stunned pre-election favourite the reformist People’s Party pushing it into second place, while Thaksin Shinawatra’s Pheu Thai fell to third.
That left Anutin in the driver’s seat to choose his coalition partners. But negotiations have since been bogged down by rivals vying for cabinet posts.
Pheu Thai, chastened at the polls, was quick to pledge its support for Anutin, handing him a slim parliamentary majority. Yet the emergence of political upstart Kla Tham has thrown something of a spanner in the works.

Led by Thammanat Prompao – a scandal-tainted but well-connected power broker from central Phayao province – Kla Tham now risks being sidelined, despite sharing Bhumjaithai’s pro-royalist and business-friendly ideological outlook.
As speculation grew that his party could be frozen out of power, Thammanat issued a typically cryptic warning.
“When in love, even plain boiled vegetable water tastes sweet,” he told reporters on Thursday, referring to the fickle nature of alliances that have seen him serve alongside Anutin in several past governments.
“In my life, I have never started a fight with anyone. But if anyone picks a fight with me, they can go back and expect a nightmare.”
Calls to void poll
Events outside of Anutin’s control may yet derail his timeline for forming a government by June.
A slew of embarrassing counting errors and alleged misconduct has forced the Election Commission to order three constituency revotes this Sunday and several other recounts. More damaging still are growing claims that the entire ballot could be illegal.
Public trust has taken a hit over the bar codes printed on every ballot paper – codes that critics say could identify individual voters, violating the constitution’s guarantee of a secret ballot.
The Election Commission has played down the issue, insisting the bar codes were designed to prevent fraud.

But legal experts and political figures across the spectrum, including Thammanat, warn the Constitutional Court could yet annul the election if it determines that voter secrecy laws were compromised.
Veteran legal scholar Wissanu Krea-ngam, who has served in several past governments, outlined two possible interpretations for the courts: either the bar codes rendered the vote “not secret”, or marking ballots within polling booths maintained secrecy.
“If you ask for my personal opinion, and I may be wrong, I agree with the first interpretation that it is ‘not secret’,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “The core issue here is: is there an opportunity to find out [the identity of the voter]? If the answer is yes, then it is not a secret.”
The unusually blunt comments from a conservative legal heavyweight have caught observers’ attention.
Annulment is more likely now prominent conservative figures are claiming that it’s possible
Titipol Phakdeewanich, political scientist
“Annulment is more likely now prominent conservative figures are claiming that it’s possible,” said Titipol Phakdeewanich, a political scientist at Thailand’s Ubon Ratchathani University. “When these kinds of voices get stronger from the conservative side of politics, people start to listen.”
By law, the Election Commission has until early April to certify the results, which currently stand at 94 per cent counted.
But the People’s Party, which won the popular vote at the 2023 election and was runner-up this time around, is among those calling for the results to be voided.
Besides the bar code controversy, its supporters allege vote-buying warped the result, blaming the pull of local dynasties for swinging poor rural voters towards Bhumjaithai.

“Years of economic stagnation have stripped locals of their bargaining power; even a small amount of money is now vital to them,” said Puangthong Pawakapan, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.
“Consequently, they prioritise immediate cash and local patronage networks, which promise specific community projects, over the national policies proposed by the People’s Party.”
The People’s Party “does not engage in vote‑buying”, she added – making it harder for the reformist movement to build loyal grass-roots networks without the state power or local infrastructure budgets to “win over communities”.
Even if the election is re-run, few expect a different outcome, especially as Pheu Thai swiftly backed Bhumjaithai – despite previously attacking it as a conservative roadblock to democracy during the campaign.
“If there is a new election Pheu Thai’s reputation has been undermined … [and] the People’s Party now has its own internal problems mounting,” Titpol said.
“To some extent, Bhumjaithai is in even better shape than before.”


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Thailand

An election worker counts ballots at a counting station in Bangkok, Thailand, on February 8. Photo: Xinhua

Bhumjaithai Party leader Anutin Charnvirakul, Thailand’s caretaker prime minister, pictured at his party’s Bangkok headquarters last week. Photo: Reuters

Thammanat Prompao pictured at Bangkok’s Government House in 2019, when he was deputy agriculture minister. Photo: AFP

Demonstrators hold symbolic ballots while standing inside mock ballot boxes during a protest against Thailand’s Election Commission in Bangkok on February 15. Photo: Reuters

Anutin with Pheu Thai’s Yodchanan Wongsawat (front row, second from left) during a meeting at Bhumjaithai Party headquarters on February 13 after Pheu Thai agreed to form a coalition. Photo: Reuters

Vote recount calls grow in Thailand amid claims of election irregularities

A Thai demonstrator holding a banner reading “nationwide vote recount” shouts slogans during a protest at the Office of The Election Commission of Thailand in Bangkok on Wednesday. Photo: EPA

Thai caretaker prime minister and Bhumjaithai Party’s leader Anutin Charnvirakul arrives to attend a weekly cabinet meeting at Government House in Bangkok on Tuesday. Photo: EPA

A Thai demonstrator sets up a mock ballot box with a message reading “Beware Ballot Fraud” during a protest at the Office of The Election Commission of Thailand in Bangkok on Wednesday. Photo: EPA

Electoral officials seal a ballot box at a polling station in Bangkok, Thailand, during Sunday’s general election. Photo: Reuters

Thailand rejects radical change with Anutin’s ‘right-wing turn’

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul poses as he arrives at the Government House in Bangkok on February 9. Photo: AFP

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul gestures as he arrives at the Government House in Bangkok on Monday. Photo: AFP

Leader of the People’s Party and prime ministerial candidate Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut and key party members at a press conference concede the general election at party’s headquarters in Bangkok on Sunday. Photo: EPA

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With counting errors forcing revotes this Sunday, the reformist opposition is seizing on irregularities to demand a fresh election


With counting errors forcing revotes this Sunday, the reformist opposition is seizing on irregularities to demand a fresh election.


Anutin Charnvirakul

Thaksin Shinawatra

Will Thailand’s election be voided? Bar code blunder threatens to tear up results

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}With counting errors forcing revotes this Sunday, the reformist opposition is seizing on irregularities to demand a fresh election

With counting errors forcing revotes this Sunday, the reformist opposition is seizing on irregularities to demand a fresh election