Jonathan Frederic De Santos

A woman prays as tourists gather at the Wat Saket Buddhist temple in Bangkok, Thailand on November 9, 2021. Jack Taylor, AFP/File

Article (news)

Deutsche Welle

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/175687971097820211109-thailand-tourists-covid-afp.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="A woman prays as tourists gather at the Wat Saket Buddhist temple in Bangkok, Thailand on November 9, 2021. Jack Taylor, AFP/File"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">A woman prays as tourists gather at the Wat Saket Buddhist temple in Bangkok, Thailand on November 9, 2021. Jack Taylor, AFP/File</span></span></span></div><p>BANGKOK — Thailand&#x27;s acting prime minister moved to dissolve parliament Wednesday, his party said, after the largest opposition group backed a rival candidate to lead the country.</p><p>The decision — a potentially legally fraught one — could see the kingdom hold fresh elections before the year&#x27;s end, just two years after it last went to the polls in May 2023.</p><p>A power vacuum has consumed Thailand&#x27;s top office since Friday, when prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was ousted by the Constitutional Court over an ethics breach.</p><p>Her Pheu Thai party — still governing in a caretaker capacity — had courted the power-broking opposition People&#x27;s Party to back its new candidate for prime minister.</p><p>But the People&#x27;s Party instead declared its support for conservative tycoon Anutin Charnvirakul.</p><p>Moments later, Pheu Thai secretary general Sorawong Thienthong told AFP that acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai &quot;has submitted a house dissolution decree&quot;.</p><p>Whether a caretaker government has the power to dissolve parliament is a hotly debated question.</p><p>But according to the Thai constitution, if the king approves the dissolution of parliament, an election must take place between 45 to 60 days later.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s likely an election will happen in the next few months,&quot; Titipol Phakdeewanich, a political scientist from Ubon Ratchathani University told AFP.</p><p>&quot;An election might be the best solution for the country, because now its almost impossible to form a normal government.&quot;</p><p>The People&#x27;s Party also said its backing of Anutin was conditional on house dissolution within four months — meaning his elevation to office would likely lead to fresh polls, albeit on a later timescale.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>COVID AND CANNABIS</strong></div><p>The People&#x27;s Party pledged its 143-strong parliamentary bloc to back Anutin, heir to a construction engineering fortune, who told reporters it was &quot;the duty of MPs&quot; to vote him into office.</p><p>&quot;From this point onward forming a government is essential, and we understand the party is seeking a way to resolve the crises,&quot; he said.</p><p>Anutin previously served as deputy prime minister, interior minister and health minister — in 2022 delivering on a promise to legalise cannabis.</p><p>Charged with the tourist-dependent kingdom&#x27;s Covid-19 response, he accused Westerners of spreading the virus and was forced to apologise after a backlash.</p><p>Thai protesters urge Shinawatra to quit over border dispute</p><p>But with parliamentary dissolution pending, it is unclear whether he will make it to the top office.</p><p>Pheu Thai is the current electoral vehicle of the Shinawatra dynasty, which has for two decades jousted with the kingdom&#x27;s pro-monarchy, pro-military elite.</p><p>But their influence is in decline, analysts say, their move to dissolve parliament more evidence of flagging momentum.</p><p>Anutin&#x27;s Bhumjaithai Party was a key coalition backer of former prime minister Paetongtarn but abandoned their pact to govern this summer over her conduct during a border row with Cambodia.</p><p>That same dispute saw Paetongtarn sacked by the Constitutional Court on Friday.</p><p>Only candidates nominated as potential premiers in the 2023 election are eligible to serve as prime minister, and a streak of turmoil had seen the number of potential leaders whittled down to just five.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8klPQCVpwBc?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div>

<p>Thailand's acting prime minister moved to dissolve parliament Wednesday, his party said, after the largest opposition group backed a rival candidate to lead the country.</p>

Thailand's acting prime minister moved to dissolve parliament Wednesday, his party said, after the largest opposition group backed a rival candidate to lead the country.

Acting Thai government moves to dissolve parliament

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Acting Thai government moves to dissolve parliament

Deutsche Welle

Published September 03, 2025 02:15 PM PHT

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Updated September 05, 2025 12:04 PM PHT

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Bangkok

Thailand

Phumtham Wechayachai

Pheu Thai

Paetongtarn Shinawatra

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