Having failed to form a government despite winning more votes and MP seats than any other party in last year’s general election, the main opposition party, now known as People’s Party, is now focused on trying to win local elections, or at least winning more votes in what is traditionally considered the turf of the ruling Pheu Thai Party.
The local election for the chief of Udon Thani Provincial Administrative Organization (PAO) which concluded last Sunday, November 24, saw the PP’s candidate losing out to Pheu Thai Party’s incumbent but yet making progress in gaining more supporters in what was otherwise traditionally the heartland of the Pheu Thai Party for the past two decades.
People’s Party was quick, and right, to point out on Tuesday following the loss that they (then known as Future Forward Party), gained only 148,850 votes, or 17.9 percent of the total votes when they competed for MP seats in the province back in 2019. A year later, in 2020, during the local election for the post of Udon Thani PAO chief, the party gained 26.7 percent of the total votes casted, or 185,804 votes. Last year it grew even more popular during the 2023 general election and managed to gain one MP seat with 295,097 votes, or 35 percent of the total voters’ turnout. And on Sunday, despite ex-convict-cum-former-premier Thaksin Shinawatra campaigning in person and helped win the PAO chief for his party’s candidate, Sarawut Petchapanomporn.
Meanwhile, Kanisorn Khurirang of People’s Party still managed to gain a decent 41.5 percent of the votes, or 268,675 votes, compared to the winner from the Pheu Thai Party, Sarawut, with 327,487 votes. This means we can expect that, increasingly, local elections will become an increasingly more important battle ground as PP will continue to find it daunting in forming a national government in the next general election due to their stance on the controversial lese majeste law and critical stance on the monarchy institution.
At local political level, it’s more about how one can make voters believe that the party’s candidate can improve the quality of life in the city and province and less about the lese majeste law and free speech, often seen by many local voters as far removed from their daily struggles.
The bread and butter issue, or rice and fish issue, basic infrastructures, and public services are what local elections are mostly about and People’s Party owe to people like Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, and Pannika Wanich, for having done a lot of ground work over the years as co-leaders of the Progressive Movement in various provinces by visiting locals in various provinces to listen and exchange their views with the locals.
Two weeks ago, in mid November, the party introduced 12 PAO chief candidates for other provinces. It includes key provinces such as Phuket, Songkhla (parts of it currently severely affected by flood), Samut Prakan and Nonthaburi (two major provinces next to Bangkok, which are effectively part of greater Bangkok), and Chiang Mai, which is the home province of Thaksin.
This is an ambitious plan and the results will determine whether People’s Party can maintain its popularity under the new but much less charismatic leadership of Natthapong Ruangpanyawut or not.
During the Cold War, the Thai Communist Party thought they could deploy the strategy of surrounding the city (Bangkok) by the forests (the rural areas that support the party) and eventually taking over the control of the state.
Many decades later, the battle for political power and change are now being fought at the provincial level again with the fight for the post of PAO chiefs in many provinces across Thailand. Perhaps this is the backdoor for PP to gain political power and reform Thailand in accordance with PP’s ideology. The new battlefront will be in the provinces and fought one province at a time.
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