‘Bangkok Spring’ sets up showdown over role of Thai monarchy

Move Forward Party leader and prime ministerial candidate Pita Limjaroenrat (right) addresses his supporters during a victory parade in Bangkok on May 15, 2023. On the left is a portrait of King Vajiralongkorn. - AFP

BANGKOK (Bloomberg): An upstart Thai political party delivered a shocking blow to a royalist establishment that has suppressed democracy over the past two decades. Now the question is whether it can implement real change without a fight.

Pita Limjaroenrat, the 42-year-old Harvard-educated leader of Move Forward, staked his claim to becoming Thailand’s prime minister after his party won the most seats and total votes in Sunday’s (May 14) election. The party was by far the most ideological in a field of politicians pledging populist handouts, standing alone among major groups in calling for changes to a law that restricts criticism of the nation’s powerful monarchy.