Thailand

On 14 May, general elections were held in Thailand to elect 500 members of the House of Representatives. The results are as follows:

Electoral results
Party- list
Move Forward Party: 14,438,851 votes, 39 seats | Total: 152 seats
Pheu Thai Party 10,962,522 votes, 29 seats | Total: 141 seats
Bhumjaithai Party: 1,138,202 votes, 3 seats | Total: 70 seats
Palang Pracharath Party: 537,625 votes, 1 seat | Total: 40 seats
United Thai Nation Party: 4,766,408 votes, 13 seats | Total: 36 seats
Democrat Party: 925,349 votes, 3 seats | Total: 25 seats
Chart Thai Pattana Party: 192,497 votes, 1 seat | Total: 10 seats
Prachachart Party: 602,645 votes, 2 seats | Total: 9 seats
Thai Sang Thai Party: 340,178 votes, 1 seat | Total: 6 seats
Pheu Thai Ruam Palang: 66,830 votes, 0 seats | Total: 2 seats
Chart Pattana Kla Party: 212,676 votes, 1 seat | Total: 2 seats
Thai Liberal Party: 351,376 votes, 1 seat | Total: 1 seat
New Democracy Party: 273,428 votes, 1 seat | Total: 1 seat
New Party: 249,731 votes, 1 seat | Total: 1 seat
Party of Thai Counties: 201,411 votes, 1 seat | Total: 1 seat
Fair Party: 184,817 votes, 1 seat | Total: 1 seat
New Social Power Party: 177,379 votes, 1 seat | Total: 1 seat
Thai Teachers for People Party: 175,182 votes, 1 seat | Total: 1 seat
Total Party - List: 100 seats

Constituency
Move Forward Party: 9,665,433 votes, 112 seats
Pheu Thai Party 9,340,082 votes, 112 seats
United Thai Nation Party: 3,607,575 votes, 23 seats
Bhumjaithai Party: 5,133,441 votes, 68 seats
Democrat Party: 2,278,857 votes, 22 seats
Prachachart Party: 334,051 votes, 7 seats
Palang Pracharath Party: 4,186,441 votes, 39 seats
Thai Liberal Party: 277,007 votes, 0 seats
Thai Sang Thai Party: 872,893 votes, 5 seats
New Democracy Party: 13,583 votes, 0 seats
New Party: 1,365 votes, 0 seats
Chart Pattana Kla Party: 297,946 votes, 1 seat
Party of Thai Counties: 1,202 votes, 0 seats
Chart Thai Pattana Party: 585,205 votes, 9 seats
Fair Party: 9,653 votes, 0 seats
New Social Power Party: 20,353 votes, 0 seats
Thai Teachers for People Party: 4,464 votes, 0 seats
Pheu Thai Ruam Palang: 94,345 votes, 2 seats
Total Constituency: 400 seats
Source: Election Commission from Bangkok Post

About the electoral system

In contrast to the previous 2019 election, which utilized a mixed-member proportional representation with 350 constituency seats and 150 levelling seats, the electoral system underwent a modification in 2021 through a constitutional amendment. This amendment restored the parallel voting system used before 2017 and eliminated the proportional representation mechanism. Out of the 500 seats in the House of Representatives to be contested, there are now 400 seats elected through first-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies (an increase of 50 seats). Additionally, there are 100 party-list seats that are voted on separately, no longer serving as leveling seats, and requiring a separate ballot. This differs from the 2019 election, where each voter cast only one vote to determine both constituency and levelling seats. The change in the electoral system received criticism from smaller political parties, as it favors larger parties, particularly the ruling Palang Pracharath Party and the main opposition party Pheu Thai, both of which supported the amendment. Smaller parties, including the progressive Move Forward Party, whose predecessor Future Forward achieved success in 2019 due to the proportional representation system, are adversely affected by this modification.

Selected articles

Will Thailand’s election winners have the chance to lead?, 2 June, (Al Jazeera)

Thailand’s opposition parties start alliance talks after voters reject military rule, 15 May, (The Guardian)

Record turnout sees Thai voters rebuke military elite as opposition take decisive lead, 15 May, (CNN)