Thailand December 2007 Election Results

With the elections recently completed in Thailand it looks like continuing political instability will be the norm for Thailand.

The newly formed pro-Thaksin People’s Power Party (PPP) is said to have gained 232 seats in the parliamentary election on December 23rd. The Thai parliment has 480 seats so the PPP is just 9 seats short of a majority and they are already claiming coalitions with smaller groups to ensure they gain the majority they need.

This is a huge blow to the military backed coup that was conducted in September. That coup ousted the then Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra amid claims of alleged corruption and abuse of power. Since that time Thaksin has been in exile in the U.K. although spokepeople of the PPP claim they will have him returning to Thailand by early in 2008, however Thaksin has not yet given a comment.

All is not rosy with the PPP either. Sodsri Sathayatham, a member of the Election Commission, said at least 24 winners could be disqualified, while new voting might be necessary in a dozen cases. The commission was barraged by hundreds of complaints of vote-buying and other violations of electoral law. It did not specify which parties’ candidates were involved.

Vote buying in Thailand? It’s hard to believe isn’t it? Seems that the current instability in Thailand will be maintained for at least a bit longer until the election results are sorted out.

Even if the People’s Power Party do maintain a majority it is likely that they will have difficulty. If the PPP comes to power, said Nakarin Mektrairat, dean of Thammasat University’s Faculty of Political Science, “there will be tension and conflicts,” in part because of its lack of support from Bangkok’s residents.

On a positive note for those vacationing in the kingdom, the political situation hasn’t had much effect on tourism in Thailand. Those with business interests in the kingdom, however are best to stay on the sidelines until the smoke clears as the current instability and constitutional changes have been bad all around for foreign business interests.

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