Thai party hopes protesters will become pro-reform voters

Chonthicha Jangrew (left) introduces herself during an election campaign in Pathum Thani province, north of Bangkok on April 17, 2023. - AP

BANGKOK (AP): Three years ago, tens of thousands of mostly young people in Thailand took to the streets in heated demonstrations seeking democratic reforms. Now, with a general election coming in three weeks, leaders of the country’s progressive movement are hoping to channel the same radical spirit for change though the ballot box.

One of those activists, Chonthicha Jangrew, is a candidate for the Move Forward Party. On the campaign trail on a recent morning at a market on the outskirts of Bangkok, she politely touted her party’s pro-reform agenda. It covers much of the same ground that riled Thailand’s traditional conservative establishment and triggered violent street confrontations between militant demonstrators and the authorities in a series of protests that gained traction in 2020.