Preparations underway at the People’s Party HQ in Bangkokpublished at 09:49 GMT 8 February
Panisa Aemocha & Wasawat Lukharang
BBC Thai, People’s Party HQ, Bangkok
The People’s Party headquarters in the capital Bangkok is ready to receive crowds of supporters.
Apart from local and international media who have camped here since early afternoon, party supporters are beginning to arrive, wearing orange – the party’s colour.
The parking lot in front of the headquarters has been converted into a seating area, with plastic chairs set out for the crowd expected to arrive in full force after the ballots close at 17:00 local (10:00 GMT).
Image source, Wasawat Lukharang/BBC Thai
The party’s leading PM candidate Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, arrived earlier with several senior party leaders to closely monitor the counting process.
The party believes it is on track to secure the maximum number of seats in today’s elections.
Veerayooth Kanchoochat, another of the party’s prime ministerial candidates, told the BBC that the executives are now preparing for strategic discussions.
Image source, Wasawat Lukharang/BBC Thai
The party campaigned under the name Move Forward in 2023 and won the election but was blocked from forming a government by the unelected senate and the constitutional court, which ruled that its proposals to reduce harsh punishments under the lese majeste law amounted to an attempt to overthrow the entire political system. It was then dissolved and its leaders banned from politics.
Asked if the party is concerned this could happen again, Veerayooth says, “This time there is a major difference, the senate no longer has the authority to vote for the prime minister.”
“If we win the election, we will try to form a coalition as soon as possible,” he says.
