Thailand election: Anutin’s Bhumjaithai is in the lead, according to count by local media

BANGKOK – Voting in Thailand’s Feb 8 general election has officially wrapped up, as counting begins across the country.

According to Thai media outlets tracking the nationwide counting, caretaker Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s Bhumjaithai has taken a lead, followed by the People’s Party and Pheu Thai party. But it is still very early in the counting process.

About 60 political parties are taking part in this election, vying for 500 parliamentary seats in the Lower House.

About 53 million citizens across the country’s 76 provinces and its capital Bangkok were eligible to cast their ballots, with the economy and the border conflict with Cambodia the two top issues weighing on the minds of many.

Among the Bangkok residents who turned up to vote was office worker Thanraphat Netsumrit, 41. “I voted as I want good people to come in and administer the country, because nowadays it’s chaotic,” she told The Straits Times.

The country saw border tensions with neighbour Cambodia flare up in July 2025 and again in early December before a ceasefire was inked in late December. The country also had its third prime minister in two years when Ms Paetongtarn Shinawatra was replaced by Mr Anutin in September 2025 after she was found guilty of violating ethics over her handling of the Thai-Cambodia conflict.

Another Bangkok voter, nurse Lavitra Jiraongart 48, said: “I’m hoping we’ll get a new prime minister, one who follows the people’s wishes and is able to fix the livelihoods of the people. Because the cost of living right now is at an all-time high.”

There was a calm atmosphere at the polling stations in downtown Bangkok and in its outskirts, as observed by ST, with voters lining up in an orderly way to vote. There are 100,000 polling stations across the country.

The turnout today is expected to be about 80 per cent to 90 per cent, compared with 75 per cent in the 2023 election, said Election Commission of Thailand secretary-general Sawaeng Boonmee at a press conference.

There are 2.3 million first-time voters at this election.

One of them is 20-year-old student Achinadda Limleartpholaboon, who told ST she still has not decided which party to vote for but believes that the next government must focus on uplifting the economy.

She said: “I feel like the prices are increasing day by day. And the Thai people’s salaries are not as high as they are supposed to be.”

Another first-time voter, 21-year-old Ranlaris Panjavan, said she would consider the parties’ policies and also the work experience of the candidates.

Key contenders

Analysts believe it is unlikely that any party will be able to achieve an outright victory, given a politically and ideologically divided Thailand. A coalition government will once again emerge, they say.

But who will take the lead in forming the new administration and which parties will make up this coalition government are what many observers are watching out for.

Three key political parties have consistently featured at the top of unofficial local polls.

The People’s Party, a liberal reformist group of young Thai citizens, is the present incarnation of two defunct parties, Future Forward and Move Forward.

The latter won the most number of seats –151 out of 500 – in the last 2023 General Election but was blocked from forming the government as the senators of the Upper House refused to vote for its then leader Pita Limjaroenrat. Move Forward was later dissolved in 2024 after the constitutional court ruled that its campaign to change royal defamation laws was unconstitutional.

Mr Pita and 10 other key party officials have been banned from politics for 10 years. But they have been on the campaign trail to ramp up support for the new party, whose leader is tech firm founder Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, 38.

In response to questions from ST after he voted at Wat Thong Bang Chueak Nang polling station in Bangkok, Mr Natthaphong said: “This is a very important time that the people’s voice can really change the country we have because we don’t have the senator powers to vote for the PM any more.”

The new senators in Parliament today do not have that same special power to vote for the prime minister, unlike in 2023.

Mr Natthaphong added: “No matter what is on the people’s minds, nationalism or anything else, the election result today will decide how our country or how Thailand is going to be in the future. So let it be the people’s voice and I believe in the people’s voice.”

If in power, the People’s Party hopes to introduce policies such as modernising the Thai Armed Forces by replacing the mandatory conscription lottery process with a voluntary system, or helping to boost the competitiveness of small and medium-sized businesses with financial support. 

Another leading party in the polls is Bhumjaithai Party – or Thai Pride Party – which came in third with 71 Parliament seats in the 2023 election.

It is led by Mr Anutin, known as the “cannabis king” for decriminalising marijuana as health minister in 2022.

Mr Anutin, 59, who took over as caretaker prime minister in September 2025, is known as a royalist conservative and has used the border clashes to drive up nationalist sentiments in the lead-up to the polls.

On Feb 8, after voting in Buriram, which is north-east of Bangkok, he told reporters that he believed the public is enthusiastic about the election.

“Since this morning, I’ve received reports that people across the country are coming out to exercise their rights. Today, if you walk into a mall, a restaurant, or meet anyone, the greeting is ‘Have you exercised your rights yet?’ or ‘Have you voted yet?’. Everyone is in high spirits,” he added.

At the party’s final campaign rally in Bangkok on Feb 6, he portrayed his party as the protector of the nation. He told the crowd: “If you choose the Bhumjaithai Party, no one will ever dare to think about invading us again. We will fully protect our sovereignty.”

The party has also dangled schemes like one in which registered citizens can buy subsidised goods from local shops at half the price.

The third most talked-about party is Pheu Thai, which is linked to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

His nephew, 46-year-old Yodchanan Wongsawat, a biomedical engineering professor, is the party’s lead candidate for prime minister. Associate Professor Yodchanan’s father Somchai Wongsawat was briefly Thailand’s 26th prime minister in 2008.

After voting in Laksi, Bangkok, on Feb 8, Prof Yodchanan told reporters: “I feel excited. I think today is another lively and energetic day for our democracy... I view today simply as a day for all Thai people to exercise their voting rights.”

Earlier at a rally on Feb 6, he called on voters at a rally to dream big, reinforcing Pheu Thai’s reputation for doling out populist economic policies for the low-income and rural citizens.

He cited dreams such as high incomes for farmers, as well as civil servants, police and soldiers.

“And many may think but dare not dream that Thailand will become a high-income country powered by science and technology. I believe that for Thailand, if we help each other, everything is possible. I am ready to turn these dreams and hopes of the Thai people into reality,” he said at a rally on Feb 6.

Pheu Thai, which came in second with 141 seats in the 2023 election, has once again suggested populist policies such as creating new millionaires every day through lottery draws by awarding nine individuals with one million baht (S$40,300) each, and a minimum income guarantee of 3,000 baht per month.

Economic blues

Thailand’s economy has not been performing well.

The country’s Finance Ministry estimates that gross domestic product growth in 2025 will hit just 2.2 per cent, down from its earlier forecast of 2.4 per cent.

In 2026, the Thai government projects the economy to grow by only between 1.2 per cent and 2.2 per cent.

The authorities have also warned of risks including high levels of private sector debt, political uncertainty denting investor confidence, and US tariff pressures.

Thailand’s business outlook has deteriorated markedly, said Mr Burin Adulwattana, chief economist at Kasikorn Bank.

The country “once described as ‘Teflon Thailand’ for its resilience to external shocks, now risks being seen as the ‘sick man of Asia’”, he added.

Most of the country’s political parties have laid out plans on how they intend to help the low-income and boost the government’s coffers to woo voters.

But the election promises, said Mr Burin, have “focused largely on expanding welfare benefits, lowering the cost of living, and distributing cash handouts”.

He said these measures are useful only in the short term. Instead, economic policy needs to address longstanding structural weaknesses, such as skills shortages and an education system that has struggled to keep pace with labour market needs. These have all been largely unaddressed by political parties, he added.

The border conflict as a rallying cry

To secure more votes, some parties have also used the 2025 border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia as a rallying cry.

Both countries have had a long history of disputes over undemarcated territory along the 800km border they share. Tensions flared up from the middle of 2025 and resulted in one of the worst clashes towards the year end.

Thailand launched air strikes into Cambodia, after Thai soldiers were injured from stepping on landmines that Bangkok said were newly laid by Phnom Penh, which denied the accusation.

Both sides have agreed to a temporary ceasefire.

However, just on Feb 5, Thailand reported that Cambodian soldiers fired a 40mm grenade round which landed in the north-eastern province of Sisaket.

Such an incident just days before polling acts as fodder for increased nationalism.

“Issues of nationalism and security have become influential factors in voter decision-making, reinforcing identity-based and sovereignty-focused political narratives,” said Dr Purawich Watanasukh, political science lecturer at Thammasat University.

Promises of heightened security have resonated with residents of Thai border provinces like 60-year-old Sawai Chubuathong, a rubber farmer.

He said: “If issues like drugs and scam gangs persist, the country cannot move forward. They cause significant hardship and damage, especially to the youth.”