Thailand's oldest and now second largest political party, the Democrat Party, is readying itself for the kingdom's first election since the military coup in 2014 with a vote of its own for party leader by the end of this year.

"We need to open the democratic process in Thailand and it must start internally with the Democrat Party," former prime minister and party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva told The Straits Times in an interview. Mr Abhisit is seeking another term at the closely-watched internal leadership election in December.