Thailand is at a ‘crossroads’. Will urban vote spring the pro-democracy Move Forward Party to power?

The Move Forward Party, led by Pita Limjaroenrat, wants personal and political freedom, economic equality and an end to the military’s grip on power

May 14 polls will pit young against old, democrats against authoritarian generals, reformers against royalists – with 4 million voting for first time

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Pita Limjaroenrat from the Move Forward Party waves to supporters during an election campaign rally in Bangkok. Photo: Reuters

Published: 11:30am, 29 Apr 2023Updated: 1:43pm, 1 May 2023

Under a hot spotlight, armed with a big smile and an abundance of stage swagger, Pita Limjaroenrat tells a young Bangkok crowd that the only remedy for what he calls Thailand’s ulcerous “lost decade” is a pro-democracy vote on May 14.

The dividing lines in Thailand’s general election are clear: young versus old, civilian democrats versus authoritarian generals, reformers versus conservative royalists.

Yet the outcome remains hard to call in an electoral system calibrated to keep Thailand’s military and its conservative allies firmly in the mix – even if its candidates fall well short of a popular mandate.

The next government must have real legitimacy if the country is to rise to modern challenges, says Pita, the erudite leader of the Move Forward Party (MFP), which carries the country’s most radical reform agenda and with it the endorsement of the young.

“We are the new consensus for Thai politics, economics and society,” the 42-year-old told This Week in Asia.

Supporters of the Move Forward Party during a general election campaign in Bangkok. Photo: EPA-EFE

Move Forward’s themes of personal and political freedom, entrepreneurship and economic equality – and an end to the military’s grip on politics and mandatory conscription – chime with millennials, born between the early 1980s and the late 1990s, and their Gen Z successors, who together account for more than 40 per cent of eligible voters.