Top contenders for PM emerge as Thailand heads to polls in February

BANGKOK - Thailand is gearing up for a general election on Feb 8, which could usher in the fourth prime minister in three years. The snap vote is expected to produce a coalition government, heightening the risk of continued political instability.

Political upheaval has become the norm over the last two decades. A series of short-lived administrations have been ousted by the military or courts in a drama dominated by a power struggle between the populist billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra and the military-royalist establishment.

That uncertainty has been a drag on the economy, with growth forecasts repeatedly downgraded, the

baht near the highest in almost five years

– hurting exports and tourism – and stocks posting a third year of declines. Bangkok is also grappling with a border clash with neighbour Cambodia. 

Up for grabs are all 500 seats in the House of Representatives, which picks the next prime minister. In a crowded field with dozens of candidates from over 30 parties, here are the top contenders: 

Mr Anutin Charnvirakul, 59

Mr Anutin has the advantage of incumbency, winning a parliamentary vote to become prime minister in September 2025. He has

played kingmaker for nearly a decade

, positioning himself between warring political factions and making his party Bhumjaithai – “proud to be Thai” – indispensable to any coalition. 

Educated at New York’s Hofstra University, Mr Anutin initially worked as an engineer at his family’s construction empire, now known as Stecon Group Pcl, before entering politics in 1996.

He spent years serving in various cabinets under leaders on both ends of the Thai political divide. He rose to national prominence as public health minister during the Covid-19 pandemic and later built his party’s profile as a champion of cannabis reform, spearheading Asia’s first decriminalisation policy in 2022. 

Mr Anutin has been the biggest beneficiary of a wave of nationalism since border tensions with Cambodia flared up in 2025 under the administration of Thaksin’s youngest daughter, riding the sentiment with a hardline stance on protecting the country’s sovereignty and support for the military.

With a party motto of delivering on promises,

Mr Anutin is campaigning

on political stability and national sovereignty, while promising economic relief programs and support for rural areas. 

Mr Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, 38

The young leader of the progressive People’s Party has consistently topped polls since the group was formed to succeed Move Forward Party, which won the most seats in the 2023 general election but failed to form a government.

It was later dissolved by the Constitutional Court for seeking to amend Thailand’s controversial royal defamation law, and the ruling bars the People’s Party from campaigning on the issue. Like Move Forward, it draws on the support of young, urban Thais seeking a break from the nation’s traditional power structures. 

A computer engineer by training, Mr Natthaphong has transitioned from being the party’s tech-savvy “back-end developer” to the leader of the opposition. His platform is built on decentralisation, democratic reforms to the country’s powerful institutions  – including the courts and the military – and social welfare, while prioritising small and medium-sized enterprises.

Mr Natthaphong campaigned as a “clean” candidate who values transparency and operates outside of dynastic politics, with public images untarnished by back-room deal-making practices. His party’s popularity, however, took a hit when it backed Mr Anutin as prime minister last year – a strategic move that set the stage for the upcoming vote. 

Associate Professor Yodchanan Wongsawat, 46

Assoc Prof Yodchanan,

a surprise entry

, is a professor of biomedical engineering at Bangkok-based Mahidol University whose political power is his blood relations: he is Thaksin’s nephew. Assoc Prof Yodchanan is the latest member of the Shinawatra clan to front Pheu Thai, after Thaksin’s sister Yingluck Shinawatra and daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra were removed from office in 2014 and 2025, respectively. He is also the son of a former premier, Mr Somchai Wongsawat. 

Assoc Prof Yodchanan is seen as a candidate who can bridge the gap between Thaksin’s populist base in northern and northeastern rural heartlands and the sceptical Bangkok voters that favour progressive reforms. He will contest the election on a raft of promises including debt relief to households and farmers and promoting new engines of growth.

Mr Abhisit Vejjajiva, 61 

The British-born, Oxford-educated former prime minister is seeking a comeback and reviving Thailand’s oldest political party after resigning in 2019. Mr Abhisit took the helm of the Democrat Party in late 2025 and is positioning himself as a principled conservative candidate, offering a middle ground for voters who find the the People’s Party too radical but are tired of the military-aligned groups. 

Seen as Thaksin’s archrival for decades, Mr Abhisit opposed what he deemed reckless populism. He symbolises an elite-led liberal conservatism and is framed as an alternative to Thaksin and his proxies, even though his party repeatedly lost out to them in elections. 

Mr Abhisit led the country from 2008 to 2011, after the dissolution of a Thaksin-linked party and around the same time Thaksin began a 15-year exile. Mr Abhisit’s campaign, which focuses on “honest politics” and restoring Thailand’s international standing, poses the biggest threat to the People’s Party in Bangkok, appealing to the same overlapping urban, educated electorate. The Democrat Party is also expected to wrestle with Mr Anutin’s Bhumjaithai Party in southern constituencies, a longstanding conservative stronghold. 

Mr Thamanat Prompow, 60

Mr Thamanat is a former army captain and a notorious political fixer. Formerly a power player in a military-backed party, he’s the sole candidate of the Klatham Party.

Rising from the fragmented factions in the conservative camp, Mr Thamanat, who serves as one of the deputy prime ministers in Mr Anutin’s coalition, is known for his deal-making behind the scenes thanks to his networks and influence in rural Thailand, particularly the north. 

Mr Thamanat was jailed for four years in Australia in the 1990s for a heroin trafficking conviction, before being deported, according to a 2019 report by the Sydney Morning Herald based on court documents.

The conviction has had little impact back home. During a parliament no-confidence debate in 2019, he insisted the substance was flour, not heroin. Whether the denial was credible became moot as the Constitutional Court ruled a conviction in Australia couldn’t disqualify him from a minister job. BLOOMBERG