Political parties in Thailand

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The political parties in Thailand ( Thai พรรคการเมือง , RTGS phak kan mueang) are a relatively new entity in the Thai government system . It was not until 1932 that absolute monarchy was abolished in the country, after which political parties in the broader sense could be formed.

initial situation

Political parties in Asia cannot typically be compared with Western parties. Often they bind members with very different political orientations together and exert their influence on current government policy from very different levels and with different methods. In some Asian countries, parties dominate political life almost completely and then the function of the government is to legitimize and implement the decisions of the party leaders outside the official government institutions. Examples of this were the Liberal Democratic Party in Japan and the People's Action Party in Singapore .

Thai parties have seen some of the common problems faced by non-Western parties, but there have also been unique developments. The development of the party landscape in Thailand is characterized by interruptions towards general and free elections of the legislative bodies at the state, provincial and municipal level. The slow and very unsteady development is due

  • the powerful traditional forces weaving threads in the background,
  • the fact that the farmers make up the largest proportion of the population,
  • the relatively small civil service in the country and
  • the dominance of the economy by immigrant Chinese until the 1970s .

Thai parties have a heterogeneous membership, their organizational structure is rather fragmented and undisciplined. The poorly targeted development of the Thai party landscape makes classification and analysis difficult. Many of the smaller parties are, by Western standards, interest groups rather than political parties. They are more engaged in articulation than in pooling interests and usually perform one of the two functions

  • Emphasis on a single goal or problem
  • Support a strong political leader.

Usually there are many more parties united in a coalition government than is the case in Europe. Often enough, parties were banned outright and the military exercised authority.

Despite all their weaknesses, the political parties in Thailand have led to a growing politicization of the population and in particular the regions outside the metropolis of Bangkok, the Isan and southern Thailand , have moved into the focus of the rulers.

historical development

Beginning

The small revolutionary group that replaced the absolute monarchy in 1932 called itself Khana Ratsadon ("People's Party") or "Sponsor". It was a loosely organized group with around 70 members and, contrary to what the German translation suggests, not an actual party, and certainly not a people's party. It comprised a progressive-liberal civilian wing, a group of pragmatic senior officers and a mostly nationalist-oriented wing of young officers. The liberals around Pridi Phanomyong could not prevail with their far-reaching reform proposals. As early as 1933 the “People's Party” effectively broke up. No real democracy was established. It was argued that due to the lack of political awareness in the country, the establishment of political parties was premature. They were then banned until the Second World War . The new leaders from the army exercised their power through unofficial political clubs. In 1938 the nationalist officer Phibunsongkhram from the military wing of the “People's Party” became Prime Minister, who paid lip service to democracy, but was increasingly autocratic and autocratic. Against his war policy and the collaboration with the Japanese, the Seri-Thai movement was formed , which included both liberals around Pridi and exponents of the old royalist elite.

After the temporary disempowerment of Phibunsongkhram and the end of World War II, there was a brief phase of parliamentary democracy. In 1946 a liberal constitution was enacted that forbade active civil servants and the military from political activity. Subsequently, a diversity of parties formed for the first time. Left and progressive liberal forces that supported Pridi Phanomyong formed the Sahachip Party ("Cooperative Party ") and the constitutional front . The more radical Sahachip party mainly assembled former fighters of the Seri Thai movement , which had fought against the Japanese during the war, was union-oriented and especially strong in the northeast ( Isan ). In the more moderate constitutional front, predominantly liberal representatives of the former “People's Party” came together. Royalist conservatives, representatives of the nobility and large estates opposed the Democratic Party . Sections of the military who still adhered to Phibunsongkhram and did not want to accept their disempowerment by civilians founded the Thammathipat party ("Rule of Dharma "). For a short time even the Communist Party of Thailand was allowed, but it did not develop any noteworthy following. After the military came back to power in 1947/1948, the parties lost their importance, and in 1951 they were banned altogether.

1950s

In the mid- 1950s , Prime Minister Phibunsongkhram traveled to Western Europe and the United States. Parties were allowed by a party law and many political groups formed to take part in the upcoming elections. The country's press reported freely on what was going on, and a place for free expression was created in Bangkok , modeled on Speakers' Corner in London's Hyde Park . Phibunsongkhram itself formed the Seri Manangkhasila party and hoped to be approved by the people in elections.

This approach was a thorn in the side of many senior officers and intensified competition between an army faction led by Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat , a police faction (General Phao Siyanon ), and the group led by Prime Minister Phibunsongkhram. This triumvirate collapsed in September 1957 after Sarit carried out a coup d'état that forced Phao and Phibunsongkhram to flee into political exile. Sarit first tried to legitimize himself through elections and to rule through parliament. To this end, he first had the Sahaphum party (“United Country”) and then the “National Socialist Party” (Chat-Sangkhomniyom) founded. Ultimately, however, he opted for direct authoritarian rule and in 1958 all political parties were again banned. Only the so-called Revolutionary Party should approve the government policy.

1960s

After Sarit's death, Thanom Kittikachorn gradually re-allowed the political parties under large conditions. Political gatherings were not allowed to comment on national and international issues, but were limited to dealing with local economic and social issues. In 1968 "elections" were held in all provinces except Bangkok and Thonburi . Political parties have only been allowed again without restrictions since the constitution passed in 1968, for the first time in the elections in February 1969. The results: 

Partei                                          Anzahl Kandidaten   Anzahl Gewählter
Vereinigte Thai Volkspartei                          219                      75
Demokratische Partei                                 191                      57
Demokratische Front                                   57                       7
Volkspartei                                           67                       2
Wirtschafts und Vereinte Frontpartei                  28                       4
Bauernhilfe-Partei                                    22                       1
Freie Demokratische Partei                             7                       1
Unabhängige                                          594                      72

1970s

After the popular democratic uprising in October 1973 , which overthrew the military dictatorship of Thanom Kittikachorn and Praphas Charusathien , a large number of new political parties were formed. This reflected the increase in the middle class, which was now also striving for political participation, but also the attempt by old and new elites, including high-ranking officials, the military and wealthy business people, to secure their own influence under a democratic auspices.

The new parties can be roughly divided into three camps. On the right, as successors to the previous de facto unity party, several parties were formed, each representing one of the internal military wings. The most important of these were the Chart Thai Party (“Thai National Party”), the Tham Sangkhom Party (“Social Justice”), the Agricultural Social Party and the Social Nationalist Party . The Chart Thai party was dominated by the Soi Ratchakru clan of the son and sons-in-law of Field Marshal Pin Choonhavan , while General Krit Sivara and Air Force General Dawee Chullasapya were behind the Social Justice Party . The Social Agrarian Party gathered the supporters of General Sawaeng Sananarong and Police General Sa-nga Kittikachorn, the Social-Nationalist Party that of Field Marshal Praphas Charusathien. On the extreme right, the Thammathipat party ("Dharma-kratie") formed as an arm of the extremely anti-communist Nawaphon movement. But it remained practically insignificant in elections.

In the middle, the traditionally royalist Democratic Party , in which a notable progressive-liberal wing had formed, and the Social Action Party , split off from it , which aimed for an extensive program of social reforms in the sense of “caring capitalism”. On the left side of the political spectrum, the progressive left-liberal party of the new force , the more pragmatic United Socialist Front and the more radical Socialist Party of Thailand formed . The Communist Party of Thailand remained banned.

At the first free election in January 1975, the party landscape was still very fragmented. In addition to the nine larger and medium-sized parties, 15 other, very small parties, each with fewer than ten seats, were represented in parliament. In the early elections in April 1976, however, three main parties emerged: the Democrats, Chart Thai and the Social Action Party. Practically all other parties lost their seats. After the massacre at Thammasat University and the accompanying coup on October 6, 1976, all parties were again banned.

1980s

In 1978 the formation of parties was allowed again and in 1979 elections were held again. In contrast to the extremely polarized period in the mid-1970s, the parties were now all pragmatic and hardly had any distinguishable ideology. Rather, they were mere electoral associations that were mainly used by influential business people from the provinces as a political vehicle. Entire groups of MPs, split-offs and party foundations often converted into parties. General Prem Tinsulanonda, who was Prime Minister from 1980 to 1988 and ruled in a "semi-democratic" system, did not belong to any party himself. However, he alternately involved the different parties in his government, occasionally swapped his coalition partners and accordingly regularly reorganized his cabinet. The three most important parties in this period were still the same as in the 1970s: Social Action Party, Chart Thai and Democrats.

1990s

Since then, new parties have been formed either by splitting off a wing of one of the established parties or amalgamating several such wings, or by the military who aspired to the political stage. The most important of these are the New Hope Party, founded in 1990 by retired General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh , the Samakkhi Tham Party ("Unity and Law" or "Unity in Virtue"), which was founded by supporters of the 1991 coup and only to who ran after this election in March 1992, as well as the Chart Pattana party ("national development"), also founded in 1992 , which was primarily a split from the Chart Thai party. An exception in the political landscape was the Palang Dharma Party ("moral force"), which was founded by supporters of the ascetic sect Santi Asoke and was very popular with the Bangkok people in the early 1990s due to its advocacy for decency and against corruption Middle class won. However, it disappeared from the political field in 1996 after it was taken over by the telecommunications mogul Thaksin Shinawatra .

2000s

Then Thaksin founded the Thai-Rak-Thai Party (TRT) in 1998 . This merged a large number of the previously pragmatic parties, but rival parties for power and influence, into one. Between its founding in 1998 and 2005, the New Hope Party, the Chart Pattana Party and a number of smaller parties joined it, and numerous MPs from other parties also joined it. This made it the first party that did not have to form a coalition and achieved an almost dominant position. In 2005 she had over two thirds of the seats in parliament. The previous small parties and political groupings remained in the TRT as inner-party wings. Thaksin was always careful to please them with posts and political concessions. Only the shrunken Democratic and Chart Thai Party remained as opposition parties. Since these parties were hardly in a position to oppose the overpowering Thaksin government, an extra-parliamentary opposition movement against Thaksin, the People's Alliance for Democracy (“Yellow Shirts”), which carried out mass demonstrations against the government in the spring of 2006, formed. In September 2006, Thaksin was overthrown by a military coup and his TRT dissolved.

Most of the TRT politicians formed in 2007 in the Party of People's Power , which is regarded as the immediate successor party of the TRT. However, some TRT politicians and intra-party groups went into business for themselves and founded new parties that presented themselves as a moderate alternative to both the People's Power Party and its rival, the Democratic Party. However, these small parties remained quite insignificant in the election. The two big parties clearly dominated. The Party of People's Power was able to pull the smaller parties to its side. In December 2008, together with the Chart Thai Party and the Neutral Democratic Party , it was dissolved by the Constitutional Court for violating the law. But substitute organizations, the Pheu Thai Party , the Chartthaipattana Party and the Bhumjaithai Party , were immediately formed again . In the 2011 election, the Thaksin-affiliated Pheu-Thai party won an absolute majority. Nevertheless, they formed a coalition with several small parties.

2010s

After the coup in 2014, all parties had to stop their activities. They were revived at the end of 2018 after the military junta held elections in 2019. In addition to the existing parties, the supporters of the junta of General Prayut Chan-o-cha formed the Phalang Pracharat party ("Power of the People's State"). On the other hand, the New Future party emerged , which rejects the influence of the military and advocates social liberalization. The Thai Raksa Chart party , which was close to the camp of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and the “red shirts”, was banned by the Constitutional Court before the election because it put Princess Ubol Ratana , the older sister of King Maha Vajiralongkorn , as the top candidate would have.

Overview of Thai parties

Ruling parties

In opposition

Parties dissolved by the Constitutional Court

Historical parties

literature

  • Pavin Chachavalpongpun: Thai Political Parties in the Age of the Great Divide. In: Political Parties, Party Systems and Democratization in East Asia. World Scientific, Singapore 2011.
  • Thak Chaloemtiarana: Thailand. The Politics of Despotic Paternalism. Cornell Southeast Asia Program, Ithaca NY 2007, ISBN 978-0-8772-7742-2 .
  • Paul W. Chambers, Aurel Croissant : Monopolizing, Mutualizing, or Muddling Through. Factions and Party Management in Contemporary Thailand. In: Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs , Volume 3, 2010, pp. 3-33.
  • Aurel Croissant: East Asia. In: Defective Democracy. Volume 2: Regional analyzes, VS Verlag, Wiesbaden 2006, chapter “Thailand. From 'bureaucratic polity' to defective democracy. ”Pp. 209–225.
  • Frank C. Darling: Political parties in Thailand. Pacific Affairs , Vol. 44.2 (Summer 1971), pp. 228-241. ( http://www.jstor.org/stable/2755379 , last accessed January 27, 2013).
  • Michael Leifer: Dictionary of the modern politics of South-East Asia . London: Routledge 1996. ISBN 0-415-13821-3 . Article: "Thailand, Kingdom of".
  • Surin Maisrikrod: Thailand's Two General Elections in 1992. Democracy Sustained. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore 1992.
  • Duncan McCargo : Thailand's political parties. Real, authentic and actual. In: Political Change in Thailand. Democracy and Participation. Routledge, 1997, pp. 114-131.
  • David Murray: Angels and Devils. Thai Politics from February 1991 to September 1992, a Struggle for Democracy? White Orchid Press, 1996.
  • Siripan Nogsuan Sawasdee: Thailand. In: Political Parties and Democracy. Contemporary Western Europe and Asia. Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.
  • James Ockey: Change and Continuity in the Thai Political Party System. In: Asian Survey , Volume 43, No. 4, 2003, pp. 663-680, doi : 10.1525 / as.2003.43.4.663
  • Dirk Tomsa, Andreas Ufen (Ed.): Party Politics in Southeast Asia. Clientelism and Electoral Competition in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. Routledge, 2013.
  • Andreas Ufen: The institutionalization of political parties in Southeast Asia. (PDF; 113 kB) In: KAS-Auslandsinformationen , November 2006, pp. 46–70.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Erik Kuhonta: The Institutional Imperative. The Politics of Equitable Development in Southeast Asia. Stanford University Press, 2011, p. 146.
  2. ↑ Thak Chaloemtiarana: Thailand. 2007, p. 88.
  3. ↑ a b Erik Kuhonta: The Institutional Imperative. The Politics of Equitable Development in Southeast Asia. Stanford University Press, 2011, p. 154.
  4. ↑ Somporn Sangchai: Some Observations on the Elections and Coalition Formation in Thailand, 1976. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore 1976, p 26th
  5. ↑ a b Somporn Sangchai: Some Observations on the Elections and Coalition Formation in Thailand, 1976. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore 1976, p. 4
  6. ↑ Siripan Nogsuan Sawasdee: Thailand. 2012.
  7. ^ Duncan McCargo: Thailand. State of Anxiety. In: Southeast Asian Affairs 2008. ISEAS Publications, Singapore 2008, pp. 341–342.