The mutual hatred between the Orange and Red camps stems from the Pheu Thai party’s repeated betrayals of the People’s Party (which was known as the Move Forward Party before). This started with the government formation attempts for Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of the Move Forward Party, who later penned a memoir entitled “The Almost Prime Minister” after a failed bid as a result of the Pheu Thai Party outmanoeuvring the young party.
It continued when former PM Thaksin Shinawatra went on stage in the north earlier this year and disparaged Natthapong Ruengpanyawut, the People’s Party leader, as “a young dumb man” in the Northern dialect.
More recently, a Pheu Thai House committee member, including former Prachatai editor Chuwat Ruksiri, infamously refused to vote in support of pushing for the granting of amnesty to those under the age of 18 charged with lese-majeste.
This while Bhumjaithai committee members, knowing they are from an ultra-conservative royalist party and will never vote for such a move, accepted the People’s Party’s request to leave the room in order for the rest to stand a better chance to push for this in the draft amnesty bill, thus winning the PP’s trust, as recalled by Progressive Movement co-leader Pannika Wanich recently with bitterness.
These are but some of the grievances that the People’s Party supporter in the social media video I viewed described with bitterness and Schadenfreude that his party eventually chose Anutin, an agent of the deep state, instead of Pheu Thai’s PM candidate Chaikasem Nitisiri.
This is the level of animosity that the People’s Party and its leaders would never publicly admit to. The bad blood between the two sides exists both at the party level and among supporters. They’ve left it to their supporters, particularly the man in the video I watched, to lay bare the perceived truth about both parties in the video.
This video was heartfelt and raw. It exposes the dark side of both Pheu Thai and the People’s Party: the deep grudges held by PP supporters who were heartbroken when Pita was outmanoeuvred and when insult was added to injury with needless public boasting by the talkative and megalomaniac Thaksin.
In the end, this was an unacknowledged factor as to why the People’s Party didn’t vote for Chaikasem Nitisiri, the Pheu Thai PM candidate. Not only do they not trust the Pheu Thai Party, they likely hate them too much.
As someone who doesn’t align with either political colour so I can say whatever I think, instead of becoming their mouthpiece or tool, it can be stated that mutual disrespect and contempt between the two pro-democracy political camps, and among their supporters, have reached a new low and have created a deeply toxic political environment, making cooperation between the two parties increasingly difficult.
Both sides can’t even stand to look at each other. In the end, both parties are more comfortable working with conservative parties and the deep state – and in the case of the People’s Party, they chose Anutin as a more “credible” alternative.
The victor who reaped the benefits of the fallout between the two parties and their supporters is the deep state, the extra-parliamentary power, however.
Of course, Thaksin’s loose mouth was a factor. Thaksin should have known better but couldn’t help but publicly and needlessly disparage Natthapong, the People’s Party leader, as a “kid”, “clueless” and “dumb.” It’s understandable if Natthapong, his fellow MPs and supporters, would harbour deep resentment but won’t admit that this is one of the main reasons the party chose to slap Thaksin in the face by voting for Anutin, an agent of the extra-parliamentary power, or the deep state—a move which this writer strongly disagrees with and must condemn as myopic, desperate even, despite them insisting that Anutin will dissolve the House within four months months and push for a referendum on a new constitution.
As I type these words, former deputy junta leader Gen Prawit Wongsuwan is a leading contender for the post of Defence Minister under the new Anutin administration. (Let’s hope Prawit won’t make it)
Earlier this morning, prominent human rights activist Sunai Phasuk made the following forecast on social media about the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the Anutin administration, regarding how it will handle the use and abuse of the draconian and anarchistic lese-majeste law.
“The new Foreign Minister will likely have to work as hard as they did during the NCPO [military junta] era, when they publicly defended the use of Section 112 (the royal defamation law) and various dictatorial laws to suppress dissent and restrict rights and freedoms. The Bhumjaithai Party has a clear policy of prosecuting those accused of lese-majeste strictly, without any chance of amnesty. We will likely see the number of political prisoners increase.”
Bad blood between the People’s Party and Pheu Thai also means some will resort to any measures to make the other side suffer.
Shortly after PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra was removed from office by the Constitutional Court a little over a week ago, former Move Forward MP Amarat Chokepamitkul performed a naked dance to deities for granting her wish. Her supplication was to see Paetongtarn removed from office by the Constitutional Court. This is despite the People’s Party saying they do not support the decision made by the Constitutional Court, which is viewed by some as an organ of the deep state.
Also, today, the local press report that the House Speaker is preparing to file a petition from 60 MPs to the Constitutional Court against the Anutin-Natthapong Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on Monday after at least one-tenth of the Members of Parliament (MPs), including many Pheu Thai MPs, had jointly signed a petition to the Speaker of the House of Representatives to forward its petition to the Constitutional Court.
The petition seeks a ruling on whether the MP membership of Anutin and Natthapong Ruangpanyawut has been terminated according to the Constitution.
I strongly disagree with the move. No matter how much mutual animosity exists between Pheu Thai and the People’s Party, we should not support the use of power that’s not truly answerable to the people and cannot be scrutinised.
In the end, on September 5, 2025, the Thai deep state won a crucial battle. They have divided and now rule over the democracy movement. Faith in both the Pheu Thai and the People’s Party is no longer the same. It may take another decade for the democracy movement and civil society to recover and unite.
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