Thai Cabinet rift over key post risks shaking ruling bloc

BANGKOK – Thailand’s ruling party and its top coalition partner are clashing over a key ministerial post, as a looming Cabinet shake-up by Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra threatens to shift alliances and unsettle the conservative establishment.

The feud between Thailand’s ruling Pheu Thai Party and its conservative coalition partner Bhumjaithai escalated this week, with Bhumjaithai leader Anutin Charnvirakul threatening to quit the alliance if he loses the Interior Ministry post.

The ruling party has offered to swop two ministries held by it for the Interior Ministry, Mr Anutin said on June 18, adding that he has rejected the proposal.

“If you can’t keep your promises, then we simply have to go separate ways,” Mr Anutin said.

Ms Paetongtarn did not respond to questions from reporters on June 18 about Mr Anutin’s threat.

The risk of a fresh spell of political instability may weigh on foreign investors, who have dumped Thai stocks on concerns that the US threat of a 36 per cent tariff will worsen the outlook for growth and hurt company earnings.

Thailand’s benchmark stock index is down 20 per cent in 2025 and is among the worst performers globally. 

Bhumjaithai’s exit, though unlikely to bring down the government, could weaken the fragile coalition formed through a deal between royalist conservatives and former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the ruling party’s key power broker and father of Ms Paetongtarn.

The pact let

Mr Thaksin return from 15 years of self-imposed exile

after he fled in 2008 to avoid corruption charges.

The Interior Minister post, which oversees local administration, is seen as one of the most powerful roles in the Cabinet.

It offers access to local power brokers seen as crucial to shaping future elections, with the next vote expected in 2027.

“The two parties have come to a breaking point,” said Mr Olarn Thinbangtieo, deputy dean of Burapha University’s Faculty of Political Science and Law.

“The slim majority in Parliament will need to be boosted by recruiting more lawmakers. Otherwise, there will be a high risk of Parliament dissolution.”

Without Bhumjaithai’s 69 lawmakers, the Pheu Thai-led coalition would hold only a slim majority, down from nearly two-thirds of the 500-member House of Representatives.

That could complicate passage of key Bills in July, including a controversial proposal to legalise casinos and the next fiscal year’s budget.

For now, it is unclear if the parties can mend ties after past clashes over charter changes and cannabis laws.

Tensions rose further this week as Mr Anutin and other Bhumjaithai officials were summoned in a Senate vote-rigging probe, which he called a political attack. 

The Pheu Thai Party faces other issues, legal troubles for both Ms Paetongtarn and Mr Thaksin, sluggish economic growth, and growing pressure to address border tensions with Cambodia and trade talks with the US. BLOOMBERG