Thai premier joins new rival party

Supporters of the Ruam Thai Sang Chart (United Thai Nation) Party hold placards of Thai prime minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha, as the party members rallied for the first time before upcoming elections, at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center in Bangkok on January 9, 2023. (Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP)

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has broken with the military-backed political party that helped him take office after a 2019 general election and joined a new rival party with which he is likely to seek another term this year.

Prayut first seized power as army chief in a 2014 military coup and then became prime minister in a military government. He did not run in the 2019 election but was the prime ministerial candidate of the Palang Pracharath Party, which put together a post-election coalition that named him prime minister.