Bangkok – Thailand’s swing to more conservative politics in last weekend’s election reveals as much about the dynamics of local power brokers as it does the missteps of the main progressive party, which failed to get its message to stick outside of urban centres.Anutin Charnvirakul, the leader of the Bhumjaithai Party, comfortably won Sunday’s election, according to an unofficial count by the Election Commission of Thailand (ECT), securing more than 190 of the 500 seats in Thailand’s parliament.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listWhile the ECT has 60 days to verify the results, Anutin is wasting no time.On Tuesday, his attention had already turned to forming a coalition government with himself as prime minister, as his election rivals were left to pick through the ruins of their failed campaigns.The youth-facing reformers in the People’s Party had been widely expected to secure the largest number of seats and the biggest share of the vote.But they won just 118 seats, according to the ECT’s website, dozens fewer than the party secured in the 2023 election. The drop in support would seem to suggest that the public has turned away from the People’s Party’s call for structural reform in Thailand’s economy and politics.Votes appear to have shifted to Anutin’s camp, an arch-nationalist who represents the interests of the country’s political and economic elite.‘Baan Yai’ (Big Houses) politicsThough allegations of vote-buying and other polling irregularities in close constituency contests were growing, even the People’s Party leader, Nattaphong Ruengpanyawut, said it …
