Thailand votes - 17th May 2023

On 14th May, Thailand had an important election. People went to vote for a new government. The United Thai Nation Party (UTNP) was in power for 10 years. But the people want a change. Many young people want a different kind of government. Many of them voted for the Move Forward Party (MFP). The leader's name is Pita Limjaroenrat. Pita asked everyone to vote.

Pita Limjaroenrat: "It's not about, you know, the polls and the numbers, but it's really about the turnout of the people. I think if, if I'm hopeful, the only KPI that would determine how hopeful I am, is at the end of the day, the voting turnout. I think that will be a quite strong driver in terms of success of this election and also my party."

Officials counted 99 percent of the votes. The UTNP's losing. The MFP's leading. But the MFP needs more seats.

Pita's happy with the results.

Pita Limjaroenrat: "At least we'll be passing the objective or the goal of the campaign. We have started with the objective of campaign to have more than three digits of, of new MPs, I think at the minimum we have exceeded that goal. And we are in the process of reaching 160, which is the high end goal that we have set."

In 2017, the old government made some new rules. 500 members of parliament have to vote for Pita. He needs 250 votes from the senate too. The old government chose senate members. This will be a difficult situation for Pita. The MFP needs to join with another party too. Then, they can form a new government. But, the court could stop the MFP.