The House of Representatives was dissolved on Monday, paving way for the next general election on May 14.
In terms of campaign readiness, four out of 87 competing parties have set up offices and fielded MP candidates for all 77 provinces.
This includes the main opposition Pheu Thai Party, the ruling pro-military Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP), the long-established Democrat Party, and the possible kingmaker Bhumjaithai Party.
Here is a quick look at the economic policies and electoral readiness of the various parties.
Pheu Thai Party
- MP candidates: Already announced for all 400 constituencies in 77 provinces
- PM candidate: Paethongtarn “Ung-Ing” Shinawatra, the youngest daughter of former prime minister Thaksin. The party has yet to officially announce the remaining two candidates. The law allows parties with at least 25 MP seats to nominate up to three PM candidates per party.
- Economic team: Led by the former deputy prime minister in charge of economic affairs during the Thaksin administration, Prommin Lertsuridej.
- Other members of the team include former adviser to three PMs Pansak Winyarat, property tycoon Srettha Thavisin, economist Supavud Saicheua, former Thai trade representative Panpree Phahithanukorn, and Kittiratt Na-Ranong, former deputy prime minister and finance minister in Yingluck Shinawatra’s cabinet.
- Economic policies: Most major policies have been announced such as increasing the minimum daily wage from the range of 328-354 baht per day to 600 baht per day.
- Other policies include increasing the minimum household income to 20,000 per month, increasing the salary for university graduates to 25,000 baht per month, creating 20 million jobs for skilled workers, upgrading the 30-baht universal healthcare scheme, finding new trade channels and measures to lower oil prices and utility bills.
- Target: 310 MP seats / compared to 136 after the 2019 election
Palang Pracharath Party
- MP candidates: Already announced for all 400 constituencies in 77 provinces
- PM candidate: Party leader General Prawit Wongsuwan, the mastermind behind the 2014 coup, is the sole candidate.
- Economic team: Led by former leader of the New Economics Party Mingkwan Sangsuwan who switched from being an opposition of the military-backed government to joining the PPRP.
- Other members of the team include former energy minister Sontirat Sontijirawong and former finance minister Uttama Saowanayon who recently returned from the Sang Anakot Thai Party to the PPRP, former finance minister Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala who was a minister during the Yingluck administration and Kornkasiwat Kasemsri, a former director of the Energy and Resources Policy Research Center at Rangsit University.
- Economic policies: Most major policies have been announced such as increasing monthly allowances for 22 million state welfare cardholders from 200-300 baht to 700 baht per month and allocating empty lands for residential and farming purposes for two million low-income earners.
- Other policies include child support subsidies for newborns until the age of six, increasing monthly allowances for the elderly and the disabled, restructuring the local pricing for oil to lower prices such as reducing the retail diesel prices from 33.5 baht down to 28 baht per liter and reducing cooking gas price and lower public transportation fees.
- Target: 150+ MP seats / compared to 116 after the 2019 election
Bhumjaithai Party
- MP candidates: Already announced for all 400 constituencies in 77 provinces
- PM candidate: Party leader and health minister Anutin Charnvirakul is the sole candidate.
- Economic team: Led by Anutin, the former president Sino-Thai Engineering and Construction, himself. Other members have yet to be announced.
- Economic policies: Most major policies have been announced such as revisiting the Marijuana and Hemp Bill that has been shelved and a moratorium on various kinds of debt for three years.
- Other policies include the right to buy electric monocycles for 6,000 baht with 100 baht monthly installment, free solar cells for rooftops to help lower electricity prices by 450 baht per month, measures to increase the number of tourists to 80 million people by 2027 while creating 10 million jobs in the process, contract farming measures, lower electric train fares and free chemotherapy and kidney dialysis.
- Target: 100+ MP seats / compared to 51 after the 2019 election
Move Forward Party
- MP candidates: Announced for 65 provinces so far
- PM candidate: Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat is the sole candidate.
- Economic team: Led by deputy leader Sirikanya Tansakul who received a master’s degree in economics from the University of Toulouse and former researcher at the Thailand Development Research Institute.
- Other members of the team include Veerayooth Kanchoochat, an Associate Professor of Political Economy at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Sittipol Wiboonthanakul, a director at Moshi Moshi Retail Corporation and Chaiwat Sathawornwichit, an Assistant Director at the Bank of Thailand
- Economic policies: Most major policies have been announced such as a minimum daily wage of 450 baht per day, 6-month subsidies for SMEs, providing more open market data for SMEs, streamlining the process to set up new businesses and introducing the “SME Lottery” scheme where people can keep the receipts from buying products from SMEs as lottery tickets.
- Other policies include tapping into the global supply chain of hi-tech industries, setting up a fund to support the Thai filming industry, incentives for solar rooftops, electric buses for all provinces, providing tourism coupons to encourage tourists to visit secondary destinations, 3,000 baht gift for new-borns, increasing monthly allowances for pre-school children to 1,200 baht each, 10,000 baht for funeral expenses.
- Target: 80+ MP seats / compared to 81 seats that its predecessor, the now-defunct Future Forward Party, received after the 2019 election
Ruam Thai Sang Chart
- MP candidates: Announced for 75 provinces so far
- PM candidate: Incumbent prime minister and leader of the 2014 coup General Prayut Chan-o-cha is the sole candidate.
- Economic team: Will be announced on March 25. Prayut, who is the current leader of the government’s economic team, could be leading the team himself.
- Policies: Most major policies have been announced such as increasing monthly allowances for state welfare cardholders to 1,000 baht per month, increasing monthly allowances for elderly people, 100 vocational scholarships for each district and the continuation of the re-development in the Eastern Economic Corridor and the introduction of four new economic corridors.
- Other policies include lowering taxes for business operators that hired elderly people, continuing the “half and half” co-payment scheme to help low-income earners, building a 24-hour healthcare system with telemedicine, advance payment from the social security insurance, registering freelance workers into the social security system, set up funds to support crop prices and fix land related laws.
- More policies will be announced within the coming weeks.
- Target: 25-100 MP seats