Thailand election: Pheu Thai to join coalition government led by winner Bhumjaithai

BANGKOK - Caretaker Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s Bhumjaithai Party, winner of the Feb 8 election, will form a coalition government that includes the third-placed Pheu Thai Party.

“Regarding Pheu Thai Party, we see a strong alignment in our visions. Both parties possess the quality and capability required to propel Thailand towards a stable, strong and sustainable future,” Mr Anutin told reporters on Feb 13 after the two parties held talks for about an hour.

At the same news conference, the leaders of Pheu Thai said the party is ready to support Bhumjaithai in leading the formation of the government.

Kla Tham Party, which won 58 seats, is likely to be in the coalition though formal talks have not begun.

With its inclusion, the new government is expected to be made up of mainly the same politicians and parties from the last one led by Pheu Thai, which is backed by former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

But the new government will be led instead by Bhumjaithai, which won 193 seats. Pheu Thai won only 74 seats this time, about half of its 141 seats in 2023, when it outperformed Bhumjaithai.

The three major parties will make up 325 seats out of 500 in Parliament, with a number of parties with fewer than 10 seats each also likely to join the coalition.

Mr Anutin, 59, who had used the border clashes with Cambodia to drive up nationalist sentiments, is a shoo-in to become Thailand’s 33rd prime minister as the parties in his coalition will vote for him to be premier in Parliament.

Thailand’s election commission has yet to announce the official election results and has to do so by April 9, or within 60 days of Polling Day.

Within 15 days of that announcement, the new Parliament session must convene.

Thammasat University political science Associate Professor Attasit Pankaew said the inclusion of Pheu Thai in the coalition could help Mr Anutin’s party balance the influence of Kla Tham.

The de facto leader of Kla Tham, or the “Dare To Do Good” Party, is Mr Thammanat Prompao, a highly controversial figure who was deputy prime minister and agriculture minister in Mr Anutin’s Cabinet.

Still shadowed by his 1994 drug smuggling conviction in Australia, Mr Thammanat was sacked from former prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s Cabinet in 2021 for reportedly plotting to take down Mr Prayut in a no-confidence Parliament vote.

Another analyst said Pheu Thai can help improve the image of the incoming government.

Said Professor Puangthong Pawakapan: “Pheu Thai’s inclusion not only gives the Anutin-led government a majority in Parliament, but it will also help improve the government’s image a little.

“The Bhumjaithai and Kla Tham parties are viewed by the public as being riddled with corruption and linked to ‘grey capital’,” said the academic from Chulalongkorn University’s political science faculty.

But Prof Attasit said Pheu Thai may be criticised for joining hands with Bhumjaithai when the latter’s pullout from the last coalition government had caused the collapse of the administration.

Mr Anutin served as deputy prime minister and interior minister in the Pheu Thai-led coalition government. But he pulled out of the coalition in June 2025 as he did not agree with how then Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra had handled the Thai-Cambodia conflict, saying she had harmed Thailand’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and the Thai military.

In September, he took over as caretaker prime minister after the court dismissed Ms Paetongtarn for violating ethics over her handling of the border conflict with Cambodia.

Meanwhile, the progressive People’s Party, which was widely tipped to win but finished second with 118 seats, will once again be relegated to the opposition bench

Joining it will most likely be Thailand’s oldest political party, the Democrat Party, which won 22 seats and is led by former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

Both parties had said previously that it is unlikely for them to join the Bhumjaithai-led coalition government.

On Feb 13, Mr Anutin said talks to form the coalition government are under way to avoid a “prolonged political vacuum”.

Talks on forming a coalition government usually come with negotiations on ministerial positions, especially those regarded as “Grade A” roles because these are vital to economic policymaking, come with a high budget and involve important mega projects.

Mr Anutin’s party had previously laid claims to the interior, finance, commerce and foreign affairs portfolios. Other sought-after ministries include agriculture, energy and transport.

While some say that Mr Anutin’s new coalition government will likely enjoy a comfortable majority in Parliament and hence stability, others offer a different view.

Prof Puangthong believes that stability is unlikely.

She expects Mr Anutin to block Pheu Thai’s proposed policies such as its flagship scheme of giving out one million baht (S$40,700) each to nine individuals daily via a lottery draw

She said: “Stability is unlikely as the coalition will be plagued by internal strife within Pheu Thai – where various groups will fight for ministerial seats, asking to take turns for ministerial positions – and inter-party friction among coalition partners.

“If conflicts escalate, the parties are expected to resort to leaking or exposing each other’s corruption scandals as a political tactic.”