Politics News
Thailand politics news, government updates, policy changes, and election coverage—stay informed on key political events, leaders, and decisions shaping the nation. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted source for political news in Thailand.
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Thai government to launch info about privacy laws to help small business
The government is to launch 8 law declarations before the end of the month regarding the Personal Data Protection Act, especially aimed at helping small and medium size enterprises. PM Prayut Chan-o-cha assigned the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, and relevant departments, to help the nation’s SMEs understand the PDPA because it’s new to Thailand. The PDPA was officially…
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Bangkok’s protestors keep up the fight against Prayut
Bangkok’s anti-government protestors are keeping up the fight to pressure Thailand’s PM Prayut Chan-o-cha to step down. Protestors staged their “Second Walk to Chase Tu” last night, moving from Royal Thai Police headquarters to Din Daeng intersection in the centre of Bangkok. The spot is close to Prayut’s residence ‘Tu’ and ‘Uncle Tu’ are Prayut’s nicknames, often used not so…
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Muslim groups discuss legislation contrary to their religious beliefs
Twenty-five Muslim organisations met yesterday to discuss the government’s new cannabis law and other legislation contrary to their religious beliefs. The religious groups met at Baan Nuer Mosque Hall in the southern province of Songkla, to set up an Unethical Laws and Regulations Opposition Association, in opposition to the new law to decriminalise cannabis on June 9, same-sex marriage proposals,…
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Luxury house in US belongs to my son, says Bangkok governor
Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt yesterday insisted he has nothing to hide after it became public knowledge his family owns a luxury house in the US worth 72 million baht. The 56 year old city chief says the 4-bedroomed house on South Jackson Street, Seattle, Washington, belongs to his son, Sanpiti Sittipunt. Chadchart added the property, with 2 floors covering 302…
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Court upholds 8-month suspended jail sentence for ex Thai MP
Former Palang Pracharath MP for Ratchaburi province, Pareena Kraikupt, yesterday says she is undecided whether she will challenge the Appeal Court decision to uphold a lower court sentence of an 8-month jail term, suspended for 2 years, and a 66,666 baht fine for defamation. A defamation case was filed against the 46 year old by former Future Forward MP Pannika…
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Minimum Thai wage up to 650 baht for 16 careers
The Thai Royal Gazette has now officially announced the increase of the minimum Thai wage for workers in 16 careers, focusing on workers in construction, service and industrial industries. The wage is increased up to 650 baht per day from the former rate of about 313 – 336 baht per day. The policy was launched on June 10 and would…
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Penny-pinching government owe 150 police officers more than 1 million baht in overtime
Government House security police yesterday acknowledged they are still owed more than 1 million baht for special overtime services from last year. Some 150 police officers, from the Supervision Division 4 of the Special Branch Bureau 3, who take care of Government House security, say they informed their superiors in the relevant departments about their missing salary but claim that…
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UPDATE: GT200 bomb detectors only good enough to be used as a ‘cat poop scoop’
UPDATE Royal Thai Army spokesperson, Santipong Thammapiya, yesterday announced that the investigation into GT200 bomb detectors has officially ended. Santipong says the NSTD had completed its examination of 320 devices, and the budget spent investigating it, and concluded that the Royal Thai Army would have to return around 3 million baht from the 7.5 million baht budget allocated to the…
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Energy crisis will continue for 2 years says Bangkok Bank VP
The Russia-Ukraine conflict continues to be a political football as energy prices rise throughout the world. Russia is the world’s second highest exporter of crude oil after Saudi Arabia and accounts for around 10% of global petroleum production. International Energy Agency figures for December 2021 reveal the former Soviet state’s oil exports were 7.8 million barrels a day. But since…
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Former Deputy Bangkok Governor says the city has already spent most of the 2022 budget
The Deputy Leader of the Democrat Party and former deputy Bangkok governor, Samart Ratchapolsitte (2004 – 2006), said Bangkok has only of 94 million baht left in its budget, and it might be insufficient for the new Bangkok governor Chandchart Sittiphun to achieve his announced policies. According to the media, Bangkok receives a budget of around 80 billion baht per…
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Pattaya City Mayor election to be re-held in some districts after ballot papers go missing
Chon Buri Provincial Election Commission has announced the cancellation of the Pattaya City mayor’s election result on May 22 because ballot papers had gone missing from polling stations in 2 sub-districts. The new election in those sub-districts will be held on June 12. After 10 years of suspension of mayoral elections, the Pattaya City Mayor election was held on May…
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BREAKING: Bangkok has a new governor
The Election Commission today confirmed the independent candidate, Chadchart Sittipunt, as the new Bangkok Governor. The 56 year old won by a landslide with over a million votes, and almost 52% of the vote, on Sunday, May 22. It was the first governor’s election in 8 years and he is the 17th person to be in charge of Bangkok. There…
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Chadchart’s commitment to purging the metropolis of corruption
Newly elected governor Chadchart Sittipunt revealed he plans to stamp out corruption as part of his flagship “Bangkok’s Nine Good” policy. Corruption in Thailand has been a national issue for decades. The kingdom is ranked 110th out of 180 countries evaluated in Transparency International‘s 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index. The index examines public sector corruption, countries whose public sectors are perceived to be…
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PM Prayut’s 3 trillion baht budget slammed ‘pointless’ by MFP leader
Opposition Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat has slammed PM Prayut Chan-o-cha’s spending plans ahead of tomorrow’s budget bill as “pointless.” PM Prayut will defend the government’s 3.2-trillion-baht 2023 budget bill in a three-day House debate starting tomorrow, explain why the sum is so large and his spending plans for the fiscal year. But the MFP leader landed the first…
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Tensions flare once again in Israel-Palestine ahead of controversial march
Perhaps the most divisive, disputed conflict in the world is hot with tension once again, as Israel’s annual flag march is expected to take place today (Sunday). The march celebrates Israel’s capture of Jerusalem in 1967 after the ‘6 Day War’. The march is now heavily associated with Israel’s Right Wing, which has become the country’s dominant political force after…
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Governor to drain the swamp with Bangkok’s criminal fraternity
Chadchart Sittipunt made over 200 pledges prior to his landslide election victory last Sunday with the economy, environment, and health, high on his list of priorities. And when the Bangkok governor-elect vowed to clean up the metropolis, he wasn’t kidding. The 56 year old’s four-year term as governor began in earnest this week and, his agreement to use criminals to…
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Thai Parliament app launched to remind forgetful MPs
To cope with meetings failing because of absence and lack of quorums, the Secretariat of The House of Representatives has developed the ‘TH Parliament’ mobile app to notify the MPs of upcoming meetings. The ‘innovation’ presumes that MPs have failed to turn up because they simply forgot… that’s usually not the case. Yesterday, Nattakarn Chochana, announced that the Information Technology…
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Thai PM Prayut questions Chadchart’s 200+ policies for Bangkok
He’s only been elected for 3 days and the sniping has already started. Thailand’s PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has told Thai media that he is ready to work with the incoming Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt. But the PM says he’s curious how Chadchart will achieve the 200 policies he promoted during the election campaign. The PM said Chadchart would be “more powerful…
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Former Thai PM issues death penalty warning to coup-makers
Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra last night fired a warning to the nation’s coup-makers that they could still face the death sentence in the future. Thaksin, who also turned his ire on current PM Prayut Chan-o-cha labelling him “a dictator” and someone “increasingly disconnected from reality,” says he hopes he will receive justice for the wrongs against him and punishment…
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Government says PM listening to concerns over draft law on public gatherings, NGO funding
The Thai PM is paying attention to, and welcomes, the opinions of those opposed to a draft law on NGO funding and public gatherings. So says deputy PM Wissanu Krea-ngam, according to a report in the Bangkok Post today. Wissanu says Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered the Social Development and Human Security Ministry to compile a list of objections to the…
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Thailand defends human trafficking record
Thailand yesterday defended its human trafficking record and hit back at US accusations that the illegal transportation of people is a critical national problem. A Thai delegation, led by Chettaphan Maksamphan, director-general of the Department of American and South Pacific Affairs, met with US Department of State officials in Washington last week to discuss the matter ahead of the 2022…
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PM Prayut congratulates Chadchart on becoming governor
Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha congratulated Chadchart Sittipunt, who is expected to be confirmed as Bangkok’s new governor following Sunday’s elections, and promised to back his tenure in charge. The Thai PM says his government will provide Chadchart’s office with all the support they need to continue the growth and development of Bangkok. “The prime minister has made it clear that…
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Landslide victory for elected Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt
Yesterday, Bangkok held its first governor election in eight years. Independent candidate Chadchart Sittipunt won the vote by a landslide, gaining almost 1.4 million votes, breaking the record for the highest number of votes ever in a Bangkok gubernatorial election. Of the 4.36 million people eligible to vote in the election, a total of 2,635,283 people voted yesterday, or 60.48%.…
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Australian voters sweep conservative government out of power
Australian voters have delivered a stark rebuke to both of the major political parties, awarding votes to a raft of new independent MPs who will take seats in the new lower house of the Australian parliament. Both major parties – the Liberal/National conservative coalition and the centre-left Australian Labor Party – lost their way in a sea of big changes…
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UPDATE: Bangkok governor candidates answer Russell Crowe’s questions on TV
UPDATE: Bangkok governor candidates answer Russell Crowe’s questions on Thai TV Russell Crowe’s pre-recorded questions for Bangkok governor candidates were streamed on Channel 7HD’s live programme “22 May: Deciding Bangkok’s Fate” this afternoon, prior to the election coming up this Sunday. Crowe asked the questions in English, and three Bangkok governor candidates answered in Thai. Each candidate was given 2…
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Leaders of smaller Thai parties want to legalise online casinos
Twenty representatives of smaller Thai political parties have submitted a draft amendment for the Gambling Act to Thailand’s parliamentary house speaker yesterday. The draft amendment would aim to legalise online casinos. An MP from the Thai Local Power Party said that legalising online casinos will let authorities collect taxes from license holders, and decide how to punish illegal casino operators.…
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Political activist has bail denied over missing pay slip
A bail application from monarchy reform activist Tantawan Tuatulanon has been rejected over a missing pay slip. Thai PBS World reports that the Criminal Court denied a bail application submitted by Move Forward leader, Pita Limjaroenrat. The reason given was that Pita had not submitted his MP’s pay slip with the application. According to the court, Pita needed to provide…
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Russell Crowe to question Bangkok governor candidates live on TV
On Thursday May 19, Russell Crowe and six other celebrities will ask questions to seven Bangkok governor candidates live on TV prior to the election which will be held on Sunday, May 22. From 4:15pm – 6pm on Thursday, Channel 7HD will air the live programme “22 May: Deciding Bangkok’s Fate” hosted by Tin Chokkamolkij. Seven Bangkok governor candidates will…
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Thailand’s PM Prayut invites US to invest in supply chains
As part of his visit to the US, Thailand’s PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has attended the 2nd ASEAN-US Special Summit in Washington last week. Now, he is inviting the US to invest or set up supply chains in Thailand to fill gaps created by the Russia-Ukraine crisis. And not the least the ongoing disruption of China’s part in the supply chain…
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Sri Lanka’s PM quits, goes into hiding
Following a wave of outraged protests that started in March, Sri Lanka’s PM Mahinda Rajapaksa has quit his position earlier this week, and is now hiding in a military base. This news comes after protestors have called for Mahinda’s brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the country’s president, to step down, along with other members of Sri Lanka’s powerful political family. On Monday,…
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