It is incredibly hard to shake off the chains of entrenched military rule, just ask Pakistan and Myanmar. Best of luck to the Thais.

Thank you for talking about our country. I can confirm that almost no one expected this election outcome. While PT spoke of the same old populist policies they used to attract rural voters in the past, MFP were very clear with their policies: Demilitarise, Demonopolise, and Decentralise. Our country has long suffered from stagnation, corruption, and authoritarian leaders. With such a large margin of victory against them, the conservative establishment is at their lowest point in decades. Half the cabinet were not re-elected including the incumbent PM who did not secure enough votes be nominated. I doubt that they will try to remove or deny Pita any time soon lest they want to enrage the people of Bangkok (Almost all of the country's wealth, power, transport hubs etc. is centralised here). While MFP is the most popular among the young, their support comes from across the board. Word of mouth was very influential in this election and many older generations voted MFP for a better future for their children.

The Move Forward is largely ideology-driven, giving them significant advantages over old-school political establishments. Unlike other parties, the core of MF is its progressive, democratic ideology, not one person or family. Even if the party is dissolved or members are banned, the new generation will rise and take up the mantle.

For a country controlled by its military, its surprisingly free and fair. I'm sure this type of election outcome will not happen in Myanmar in the near future

All the best on Thailand's arduous struggle to break free from entrenched military rule.

Additional info: If you got accused of violating Section 112, in most cases you'd get thrown into jail immediately without needing court's judgement. This's why it is such an effective weapon for silencing people.

Our country, Indonesia, also broke free from military rule in politics in the late 1990s. It was difficult, bloody, and arguably the effects of military rule are still seen today, but it's possible. I hope there wont be any need for bloodshed. All the best for the people of Thailand.

I am from Thailand and voted for the Move Forward Party. We are also waiting to see if the military would make a move. Last time the military staged a coup, it was backed and supported by a lot of people, especially those in Bangkok. Oppositions are seen as lower-class political tools controlled by money and false political views. Right now, it is not the same. We are all sick of incompetent mil leaders, abuse of power, and the current king does not enjoy the level of popularity as his father. A lot of hardcore royalists who supported the coup, turned their backs to democracy and saw Move Forward as a good alternative of Pheu Thai. (Most of them still see Thaksin as evil politicians.) A coup might take place, but I think the chance is rather slim. Still, as mentioned in the video, there are many obstracles to over come. What is more likely is some people will try to bring down Pita for some silly things he has done or allegedly done. Move Forward took strong position on changing the fundamentals of Thailand political system and culture. And the results really show that we are all sick of old political games. (The results of some cities including my town really surprised me. The old power who rooted for decades got kicked out without a fight.) No one can stop the change now. Anything the might happen will be just hiccups as people have already moved forward. And thanks for the coverage. Excellent pronouciation too.

best of luck, citizens of thailand, hopefully tree of liberty won't have to be watered by blood this time

It is really important to mention how important a landslide win in Bangkok and preliminary area mean to the military. The military couldn't done a coup without first trying to stir up some excuse and get the approval of the mostly middle class urban. Now everything has changed. Bangkok is now 70% pro-democracy. 10 years ago it was about 60% pro-regime. I'm not saying there won't be another coup, in fact , I am quite sure that they are probably plotting one right now, but it would be really really difficult to done a coup anymore because how a failure the last military government were. Nontheless, we have to always be cautious, reform the military as soon as we can, and use this momentum of popularity to kick the military out of politics. Feel free to ask me anything about this Thai election. As a thai political science student, It would be my pleasure to share more to the international community.

This is a question for people from Thailand, if the military doesn't allow you to form the government after winning the election do you think there is a chance of a civil war happening?

Country in Southeast Asia: *Has a free and fair election.* The military: “Not on my watch! NOT ON MY WATCH!”

For context, section 112 currently allows ANYONE to sue anyone with it, the police has never refused to charge that person with the crime, and the court has never dropped the charge, even if in the end the verdict is not guilty. It's not just the harsh punishment of minimum 3 yeas max 15 years jail time, but the fact that it is systematically used to silence opposition with the legal system and bureaucracy. What MFP aim to do is to amend it so that only the palace itself can sue, and change the sentence to max 1 year jail time and no minimum jail time, with special exception for "good faith" criticism. It's not even radical, even still conservative, from the outsiders' perspective, but even this is too radical for Thai conservatives.

These unelected ‘senators’ really need to contemplate their next step. Their voting decisions will inevitably have serious implications for their entire future, as well as that of their families. The military and monarchy are going to have widespread unrest throughout the country on their hands if the will of the electorate isn’t respected. I’m currently living in Thailand and all the Thais I know are absolutely livid with the Senate right now.

No matter what the result is, I just hope that our brothers and sisters from Thailand will be safe and happy. Love from Philippines

Hopefully the will of the people is respected this time. Time to move forward.

It’s unlikely to be a coup since junior officers also voted in favor for MFP. If they launched a coup, the cannons may point to generals themselves.

Thai coup… hmmmm… such a honoured tradition from Thai Military.

Thank you very much for represent this video, as Thai people, i have nothing but to say ขอบคุณ

7:17 In this case Pita does not directly hold ITV shared while serving in parliament at any capacity, the truth is these ITV shares along with a large number of shares from thai companies are part of a mutual fund that is set to be inherited by others, however he is names executor of the will, which may cause some minor issues with the ECT; but, the military backed parties ofc will blow this out of proportion in order to bar him from office and prevent a reform oriented government

This is literally the best outcome that the Thais got for a taste of true democracy. Love from ASEAN

That is good to hear. I never managed to understand why they tolerated having a weird royal government, whenever I meet Thai people they seem modern and cool, not like they want to be serfs.

You guys have done a great job presenting the essential information, Thank you

Knowing Thailand, the election result is not unexpected. I just placed a bet with Thai friends for a coup in 6 years Fun fact, that junta you mention. His surname is Yummy Moon. No kidding.

personally this is the most informative comment section i have come across, thanks for all thai ppl sharing your personal reflection with tones of nuances

Thank you soooo much for talking about Thailand, no one cares about us as much since Turkey has it’s election on the same day. Thank you again for letting others know our country.

Thank you for mention this

Good work. Covering all topics and aspects.

Not gonna lie I forgot Thailand even had elections

To add to the section 112, it's actually up to 15 years of jail time *per count of violation*. So if they knit picks your "insults" the sentence can stack up pretty fast

You got me up-to-date in a short amount of time, thank you

Very precise and accurate details, great job!

Hoooooooooooly Thailand I am so proud of yall. Power to the people power to the youth, the established can keep on supressing all they want, but worldwide the cracks through the damns are growing and growing

I first thought Pita was much younger, like just turned 30 or something

Very well explained. Thank you for making this video for us to better understanding the situations.

Finally, my favourite news channel covers a topic from my country 🧡🧡🧡🧡

Damn, Thailand becoming based in 2023? I’m rooting for them. Sending strength from Venezuela!

Probably the best breakdown by foreign media I've seen yet! Thank you for raising awareness & make our messy state more understandable.

Thanks ! For your excellent and fair presentation 👏.

Very good and precise info.

As an outsider, this is the most comprehensive and informative analysis of the Thai election compared to the some of the established News Agency. Truly enjoyed the video, well done!

Move Forward: Alright, we've won over a third of the house. Will you step down now? Military: Let me think..... No. Move Forward: Dude... Uncool.

Great video!

Good summary. Thank you.

The main reason that this election is very meaningful and significant to many Thais is not because we have just won an election (that happens every four years) but because we have been trying to break the vicious circle of military-backed government (as a result of many coups in the past), the long-held military infiltration into the democratic system, the conservatism that holds the country back according to their misplaced patriotism agendas, the economic gap that has been worsen and favored the top few percents of Thais including monopolies by giant companies, and decentralizing the country to allow regions/provinces to elect and form their own local governments and thus make local decisions, not simply Bangkok-centric, just to name a few. This massive win commenced years back when the Future Forward Party (one of the newest opposition parties) led these campaigns by educating people and introducing them with a new, hopeful political ideology. The party was later collapsed and banned by the pro-government in a usual attempt to get rid of what they saw as a threat, of course, to the military-backed regime and their entire share of power in the government. There came the Move Forward Party led by Mr Pita, who continues the mission, and finally the party won the majority votes no one has ever anticipated. Now what we call the "pro-democracy" parties are forming coalition to gain majority seats in the parliament, now with over 310 out of 500. Despite some concerns over the senators, who can vote for the Prime Minister this time (as the current Constitution grants them the right to do so), the forming coalition has high hopes that they can successfully become Thailand's next government. To me, and many Thais I believe, Mr Pita isn't all about the face or the look, but his competence, conviction, and commitment to his promises and the new days of Thailand appeal to us most. The fact that he was a Harvard and MIT alumnus is the cherry on top of what a capable leader he could be. We would like to thank all the good wishes from other countries and hope that you stand by Thailand during this critical moment in Thai political history.

Good luck to the Thai people!

Great overview!

Thanks for the coverage this mean a lot for Thai, we are on the corss road that will either go up or down. I hope for the best

Western media usually misses quite a bit of nuance when covering Thai politics. Which means they are missing the tectonic shifts happening in the undercurrents of the political landscape. Part of that is the complete inability to parse the politics of the '90s and '00s that preceded the coups. Because the major parties were a populist center-right/right-wing party, and a royalist center/center-right party. Which just didn't make any sense to outsiders at the time. The fact that pro-business Thaksin was ever coined Liberal or Leftist in the foreign media, due to his populism, when he was our right-wing party, was especially weird. Not that political ideology mattered over much when everyone was essentially a flavour of center-right. With royalist not yet picking up political connotations until post-coup and then again post-Rama 9. For comparison, a British-Thai pro-Brexit proud conservative will most ideologically align themselves with Phuea Thai for instance. But the undercurrents are changing. Move Forward provided a Progressive movement that was very much missing from the ideological landscape. It also ate in to Phuea Thai's populist mandate, of those who saw both sides as corrupt so you might as well vote for Phuea Thai to benefit your area, providing them with an actual anti-establishment party to congregate around. And the historical Centrists who voted military as a bulwark against the corruption/populism of the Shinawatra dynasty have been sufficiently disillusioned, and with no other choices, they'd rather back Move Forward as the new bulwark, even if they might not fully agree with their ideology. Helped by the fact that Move Forward have toned-down their (public) abolitionist rhetoric, as well as reoriented towards cultural progressiveness instead of the more divisive economically leftist talking points. That's about as streamlined a summary as I can make of it, without (hopefully) spilling my own political opinions in to the mix over much. Because no matter who I talk to, wherever they are in the political spectrum here, they all roll their eyes whenever they look at how foreign media has been attempting to interpret the situation through the western perspective with reductive labels like Liberal/Conservative. And FPTP does a lot to mask the underlying political currents to outsiders.

Still sceptical about this election result bringing changes in Thailand, but hard to resist hoping to see it.

Go Thailand you all are awesome keep up the great work ❤ from 🇨🇦

Nice to see you cover thailand elections.

Thanks for covering this topic. We need all eyes on this, the senates are already getting backlash, we are moments away from true democracy🧡🧡🧡

I love Thailand so much and it’s people, such a wonderful place (yeah I know it has its problems). So I hope whatever happens, it’s the people that will benefit the most.

thank you for your hard work and talking about our country's main topic. I'm a first voter and I mark on a ballot with the commitment that the democracy in Thailand that has lost for almost 1 decade will be back to the people again. but the house of senate is our main obstacle...and If the majority can form a government as it should, I hope that every issues in our nation must be fixed by the civil government management not using a force from some political party or military forces. I'm looking forward to watching more of your videos 😊

Very clear and detail explanation on what is happening right now, Thanks!

A very clear and detailed explanation, thank you

you should also make a follow up video about how thailand has better freedom of press than greece (based on the journalist without borders) and how bugina faso is no 58 in their list and how many dictatorships are in top 100, and some democracies are above 100 for example... that would be fun

I wish the best for the people of Thailand

Auto moderated for providing a link to your nebula video so: Have you considered having a link to your Nebula video in the description so people with a Nebula subscription can watch it over there after being notifed on KZfaq that you've uploaded a new video? (if you get more revenue from Nebula views vs KZfaq that is)

Its tough to have a free country when the state serves the military and not the other way around.

It was crazy to see so many Thais excited see change last weekend 🍊

I live in Thailand since 3 years, finally i understand, thank you 🙂

Very informative

For anyone who’s unsure about the senators, the reason they might have less power than they once had is that they can’t vote for a policy, just prime minister. Usually when the voices are almost enough to win on the military side they will convince some smaller parties to join them and some representatives from the opposition. However with this large of a margin it’s unlikely they will be able to pull enough thus even if they elect tehir old prime minister out the representative can immediatly do a vote of no confidence, which th senators can’t participate in and kick out the prime minister.

There seems to be a lot of surprise about Move Forward's success but I am not sure why. I have just been over there and everyone I spoke to was a Move Forward supporter and quite vehemently in some cases.

Well done.

Good luck to Move Forward 🎉

No matter Move Forward Party with able to run a government or not, I believed this is a new chapter for Thai political landscape. In Thailand, normally politician buy votes and that's used to be the only way to win a seat especially in the rural area. And for the party list MP seat, people tend to vote for the most populist policy regardless the policy even feasible or not and give zero F regarding political ideology. So it is a formula for Thai election, buying vote in rural area + extreme populist policy. But Move Forward Party they do not have that amount of money to buy vote and their policy focused on political reform than populist, but they still win the election. So even some of my friends who is on the right wing while Move Forward Party is on the left, they are still happy that Move Forward Party win this election. This is a showcase that any political party can win without buying vote and we hope that we will have several more political party like this emerge in the coming years. This does spark a lot of hope for most Thai except for the far right.

The military won't allow anything other than people who advance their interests, it is as corrupt as can be. I admire the Thai people, they are always willing to try for reform, even though they have been trying for decades.

It's about time. Coup in Thailand is one of the things in news i grew up in the 90s. Miss those days. This thing will bring back lot of nostalgia. Coup in Thailand Famine in Central Africa Civil war In other Africa These are the constant of life

As a burmese,I wish Thailand the best of luck and I hope they don't fall into the rabbit hole like we did

make a follow up video now that he lost bc of the senators ._.

It is ironic that the country that rename itself from Siam, to 'free man/people/human', never belong to the people before, but various type of despot.

Congratulations to the Thai youths!

Best of luck Thailand! Love from Hong Kong 🇹🇭🧡💛🇭🇰🧋

Love this channel. Could you please cover the US accusations that South Africa is supplying Russia weapons?

For Democratic Thailand ✌️

Regarding Section 112, currently a 14 yrs old girl had been charged with section 112. Currently being held without bail.

42 yrs old?? The guy looks like he's 24. I was impressed because of that

Military coup d'etat is not as easy as you might think, as there is pattern and method in doing it. Before anything, there is a last resort mechanism the establishment can use to stop this government forming if the senate doesn't do it: the constitutional court. Every ruling party in Thailand has been dissolved by this court, including the opposition Future Forward in 2020 and the two predecessors of Pheu Thai. First thing, a coup d'etat has never happened earlier than 2-3 years of an elected government, so this is valuable time slot for this government (if they can form it) to do the sweeping changes. Secondly, a coup d'etat in Thailand can only happen when there are a group of protesters calling for it (this is mostly the case for post-Thaksin politics). Thirdly, there is a theory in Thai politics that the urban core and the rural area play different roles. The rural area elects a government, and the urban core overthrows it. This time, both the urban core and the rural area voted for this red and orange coalition. That is the hefty price Pita is talking about.

go Thailand!! i wish that the democratic transformation will continue and that you will set an example for other countries in the region!!

The question isn't 'Will', it's when.

A small language quibble: the “Move Forward” party leader’s name is พิธา which is pronounced “pi-taa”, not Peter. (And a slight upswing in your voice on the “pi” syllable.

You know, I don't think the military would launch a coup per se. I am sure the Thai military have been keeping a close eye in what's going on in Myanmar, a country that experienced a coup in 2021 and it's been chaos ever since. I think the Thai military will try to be more discrete, maybe try to engineer events behind the scenes, make it harder for the new government to pursue its policies or coerce them in some way.

He doesn't even look 42, he looks less than 30! I'm so jealous...lol. 😂

I’m in Thailand now and it’s great to see history being made, I just hope it has a happy ending.

Interesting watch ⌚️ : the democracy of Thailand establishment !.

Brace yourself, it's a bumpy ride all over the world.

Nothing will change.

I live in Myanmar. And I am also concerned that the coup will happen or not while my country was.😢

Short answer "Yes"

The military is in power since 2014 great thing its time for new pro thai people incharge and the military put backed and the criticizing the monarch will be re appealed Bec truth is in criticizism we learn our weakness and strength

Not the election for democracy I was expecting (I was watching Turkey) but it is the election for democracy I very much need. I will be keeping a close eye on how the results of the Thai Election will be implemented.

One question I have which wasn’t mentioned in this video is towards which side will the Bhumjaithai party (3rd largest party) form a coalition with. They are essentially the kingmaker in this election.

If I were a betting man, I'd say yes. Coup incoming. Especially since the last military backed PM is still right there.

Myanmar 2: Electric Boogaloo

First rule of having a running a successful country. Prevent the military from ever gaining too much power.

Thai people feel a lot better than previous Myanmar now. Hope Thailand will become a shining state of South East Asia together with people.

To the account that keeps spamming “stop blending your news with your bla bla bla”, please stfu