The Move Forward Party’s (MFP) stunning advance in Thailand’s general election is a watershed moment for many reasons, not least of them a rejection of the conservative status quo. That MFP, led by the youthful Mr Pita Limjaroenrat, should have performed so well in a nation whose median age is the second oldest in Asean, suggests that its appeal goes beyond the young who voted for it overwhelmingly. The party won 113 constituency seats and garnered 14 million party-list votes, resulting in 39 additional party-list seats. The total of 152 seats gives MFP the largest number of seats in the House, and the popular mandate to lead the next governing coalition.

While the Pheu Thai of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra had been expected to overshadow MFP, the currents have been moving away from Thaksin-aligned parties. In 2019, the fledgling Future Forward Party, the precursor to MFP, took a surprise 31 constituency seats. This time, MFP even gained in Pheu Thai strongholds such as Chiang Mai in the north, where it won seven out of 10 seats. It also blitzed Bangkok, taking all but one of the 33 seats there against a single seat for Pheu Thai.