BANGKOK: For many young Thai voters, Sunday’s (Feb 8) election was expected to mark a breakthrough for the country’s pro-democracy movement. Instead, it delivered a sobering setback.
The royalist Bhumjaithai party won the election by a surprisingly wide margin backed by conservative and military-aligned groups at the expense of People’s Party, the political group supported by pro-democracy and reformist voters.
Early results show People’s Party on track to win about 115 seats and about 9.7 million popular votes, a sharp drop from its predecessor Move Forward, which won 151 seats and more than 14 million votes in the 2023 election.
The outcome has left many young supporters disillusioned. By early Monday, social media platforms were awash with posts expressing disbelief at what many see as a retreat from reform.
In one Facebook group of more than one million members dedicated to discussing opportunities to leave Thailand, activity surged overnight. Dozens of posts and hundreds of comments appeared within hours of the results.
"Seeing the election outcome was really disheartening,” one user wrote. Another said: "That sealed it for me - I need to move.”
The group, also known as "Let’s Get Out of Thailand,” was created during the pandemic, when frustration over former Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha’s military-backed government collided with mass youth-led protests.
Since then, some members have successfully relocated abroad, and several said Monday that the election results reinforced their decision.
For Thailand, the backlash highlights a deeper risk that repeated political disappointments among young voters could accelerate brain drain, weakening long-term growth prospects for a country already struggling with an aging population and slowing economy.
Election day did return some support for reform, however, with 60% of voters or nearly 20 million Thais voting in favor to replace a military-drafted constitution in a referendum that was called for by People’s Party, but which had broad support from all parties. - Bloomberg
