IFES

May 14, 2023 Confirmed

Thailand

Kingdom of Thailand

Election for Sapha Phuthaen Ratsadon (Thai House of Representatives)

More Info:

At Stake in this Election: 

  • All 500 seats of the Thai House of Representatives 

Government Structure:  

  • Chief of State: King Maha VAJIRALONGKORN / Rama X (since 1 December 2016) 

  • Head of Government: Prime Minister PRAYUT Chan-o-cha (since July 2019) 

  • Prayut carried out a coup in 2014 and was appointed interim prime minister shortly thereafter. He was formally nominated and approved by parliament in 2019. 

  • Assembly: bicameral National Assembly (Ratthasapha / รัฐสภา) including a 250-seat Senate (Wuthisapha / วุฒิสภา) and a 500-seat House of Representatives (Saphaphuthan Rasadon / สภาผู้แทนราษฎร) 

Electoral System:  

  • The King is a hereditary monarch. 

  • The Prime Minister is nominated by the House of Representatives and Senate, and then confirmed by the King. The Prime Minister may serve for up to 8 years. 

  • From 2024 on, the Senate will not participate in the nomination process. 

  • All 250 senators are selected by the National Council for Peace and Order (คสช.) and appointed by the King, and they serve 5-year terms. In 2024, the Senate will be reduced to 200 seats. 

  • In the House of Representatives, 400 members are directly elected by plurality vote in single-seat constituencies. The remaining 100 members are elected by party-list proportional representation vote in a single nationwide constituency. All members serve 4-year terms. 

Last Election: 

In 2019, the Pheu Thai Party won the most seats (136), followed by Palang Pracharath (116), Future Forward (81), the Democrat Party (52), and Bhumjaithai Party (51). Twenty-one additional parties also won seats. Voter turnout was 74.69%. 

New/Unique in this Election:  

Voters will receive two ballots: one with candidates in the relevant single-seat constituency and one with party lists for the national seats. This ballot system was introduced in 2001 and was briefly replaced by a single ballot for the 2019 election. The seat distribution will also change slightly, from 350 single-seat constituency representatives to 400 and from 150 party-list representatives to 100. 

Key Deadlines: 

Main Parties in this Election:  

  • Pheu Thai / พรรครวมไทยสร้างชาติ 

  • Leader: CHOLANAN Srikaew 

  • Seats won in last election: 136 out of 500 

  • Leader: PRAYUT Chan-o-cha 

  • Seats won in last election: 0 out of 500 (founded in 2021) 

  • Leader: PRAWIT Wongsuwan 

  • Seats won in last election: 116 out of 500 

  • Leader: PITA Limjaroenrat 

  • Seats won in last election: 0 out of 500  

  • Formed by members of the dissolved Future Forward party (81 out of 500 seats) 

  • Bhumjaithai / พรรคภูมิใจไทย 

  • Leader: ANUTIN Charnvirakul 

  • Seats won in last election: 51 out of 500 

  • Leader: JURIN Laksanawisit 

  • Seats won in last election: 52 out of 500 

  • Leader: VARAWUT Silpa-archa 

  • Seats won in last election: 10 out of 500  

  • Leader: SUDARAT Keyuraphan 

  • Seats won in last election: 0 out of 500 (founded in 2021) 

Population and Registered Voters: 

Gender Data: 

Disability Data: 

IFES Resources: 

  • Does IFES have a presence in Thailand: Yes, programming  

  • Election Access: Yes 

  • Election Judgements: Yes; 8 resources  

Elections in Thailand