Thai Election Commission Announces Official Election Results

The official announcement of the 2023 General Election results in Thailand was issued on May 25 by the Thai Election Commission through the ECT Report system. The results suggested that the Move Forward Party gained the most seats in the Houses with 151 seats, closely followed by the Phue Thai Party with 141 seats. The turnout from this election is a record high of 75.71%, meaning about 39.5 million of the 52.2 million eligible voters exercised their right to vote. Out of the 67 parties participating in this race, 18 parties gained seats in the parliament. The other three parties in the top five include Bhumjaitai, Palang Pracharath, and United Thai Nation Party, which gained 71, 40, and 36 seats respectively. The Election Commission has 60 days from the election date (May 14) to endorse the legitimacy of the election, then the first parliamentary meeting will happen within the next 15 days. There are two important agenda items moving forward. The first is to reach the conclusion of who will be the new President of the National Assembly of Thailand, which is still an ongoing discussion among the leading parties. The other is the need to elect a Prime Minister and ultimately form a new government. From the 750-member structure of Thailand’s parliament, a majority of 376 seats is needed to elect a prime minister and form a new government. The Move Forward Party, with 151 seats, is forming an alliance with seven other parties, which would add 161 seats and bring their total seat count to 312 seats in the government. A memorandum of understanding between the Move Forward Party and its seven allies was signed on May 22, outlining nearly two dozen terms and conditions they aim to pursue, including teams to work out any differences among the parties. The Move Forward Partly led coalition will still need 64 seats addition seats to form a government.