The party made a major breakthrough in the election last year but was not allowed to take power. The new party will be led by the 37-year-old tech entrepreneur Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, a spokesperson told journalists in Bangkok.
This week, Thailand's Constitutional Court dissolved the country's largest opposition party Kao Klai, and its leaders were banned from political activity for ten years. Something that the EU, USA, UN, and human rights organizations believe damages democracy in the country.
Kao Klai, among other things, campaigned to ease the country's strict lèse-majesté laws, which the court considers an attempt to overthrow the Thai monarchy.
The military seized power in Thailand through a coup in 2014 and later introduced a political system that is clearly rigged in its favor. Parties that challenge the military and monarchical establishment have also been invalidated in various ways in the past.
Thai domestic politics can be described as a power struggle between supporters of a traditional elite – the military, the royal house, and the state administration – and a broad group that opposes them.
The largest party in parliament after the 2023 election was the progressive and youth-friendly party Kao Klai, which emerged from the ashes of the party New Future, dissolved by the Supreme Court. The party leader was the Harvard-educated Pita Limjaroenrat, a young and wealthy businessman.
The party program includes, among other things, democratic issues, abolition of the military's political influence, a new constitution, reduced royal power, and legalization of same-sex marriage.
Sources: Landguiden/UI and others.
