Edited by Wendy Flowers.

There is an undercurrent in Thai politics as the next election approaches: The Pai Thai Party's goal of calling for 200 seats in parliament has sparked widespread controversy, and the strong reinstatement of former Democratic Party leader Abhisit has made the election even more uncertain.

As an important partner of China in ASEAN, this power reshuffle in Thailand is not only related to its domestic political trend, It is more likely to affect the layout of China and Thailand in the fields of economy, trade, infrastructure and regional cooperation.

How will this political game unfold? Can the friendly relationship of "one family" between China and Thailand stand the test?

Abolish the title of ¡°Family Party¡± for the Thai Party

On October 22 this year, former Thai Prime Minister Peitontan Shinawatra made a statement on social media, causing waves to resurrect the already turbulent Thai politics.

The 40-year-old officially announced his resignation as the leader of the Thai Party, at the expense of his personal retreat and removing barriers to political party reform.

On August 29, she was removed from her post by the Constitutional Court, but only 54 days, and the source of this political storm was the June "call recording" incident.

But Peterson would do so because of the ¡°call recording¡± incident that was exposed in June.

The private call involving the Thai Cambodian border issue, because it was ruled Violating moral norms and undermining national dignityNot only ended the term of Prime Minister Petun Tan, but also put the Thai Party in a difficult situation.

It should be noted that Petun Tan, a third-generation political passenger of the Sinava family, whose father and aunt have all been in charge of the Thai regime, and it is for this reason that the Thai party has always had the label of "family politics".

With the approaching general elections in 2026, the party's leader will have to sign the candidate's nomination documents as a system provisions, once putting Petentam into a "political weakness" that the opponent can use.

For these reasons, in order not to affect the candidacy qualification of the whole party, Petun Tan chose to leave directly.

In his resignation statement, Petongtan made it clear that he was "still a member of the Thai Party", but this "self-revolution" has kicked off the party's "de-Shinawatrization".

For the Thai Party to immediately announce the core reform, the new party leader will be completely separated from the Shinawatra family, and the decision-making power will become the party's executive committee and regional committee, while promoting a younger organizational structure and transparent process.

What is interesting is that the Pheu Thai Party's general operation is not temporary cramming, but "premeditated."

As early as the 7th of this month, the party held a conference with the theme of "Revitalizing Thailand and Revitalizing Thailand" and announced the first batch of 185 candidates.

covered almost half of the country¡¯s electoral districts and shouted 200 seats in parliament.The campaign slogan attempts to show its determination to reform with practical actions. However, although it is massive, it is difficult to conceal the practical challenges.

Thailand¡¯s Democratic Party is back.

This is because the traditional box office is concentrated in rural areas in the north and northeast, while the support rate in Bangkok and the southern urban circles has long been low.

Young voters are increasingly tired of "family politics", coupled with the constraints of the multi-party competition mechanism established by the 2017 Constitution, The 200-seat goal was instantly viewed by the public as a ¡°political slogan that encourages morality.¡±

More seriously, in the two parliamentary elections since September, Thailand's candidates have been successively defeated by the proud Thai Party, and former allies have been transferring to the new Prime Minister Anutin camp, and there have been signs of division within the party.

At the time when the Thai party was busy with internal adjustments, the old-fashioned political party Democratic Party decided to take action.

On October 18th, the special congress of the Democratic Party elected former Prime Minister Abhisit as the party leader for the third time with a high vote. This move was interpreted as a key step for the party's "desperate situation to continue its life".

As a senior politician who has twice held the party leader, Abhisit resigned in 2019 due to electoral defeat, but in the 2023 election, he only won a record low of 25 seats, putting the Democratic Party into a split and freezing point of support.

After the return, Abhisit quickly formed a 41-member executive committee, ostensibly claiming to be "combining the old and the new", but most of the core members were cronies, apparently to curb infighting within the party and stabilize the overall situation.

The Democratic Party has accurately grasped the vacuum during the transition period of the Thai Party's reform and formulated differentiated campaign strategies.

Strengthening the traditional advantage of the South and Bangkok regions ¡°Stability, Order and Tradition¡±Conservative cards are in sharp contrast to the "populist line" of the Thai party.

In economic policy, the Democrats rejected high-cost welfare promises such as ¡°digital wallets¡± and instead emphasized ¡°fiscal discipline¡± and ¡°policy continuity¡±, targeting middle-aged voters and urban middle-growth who are suspicious of radical reforms.

In his inauguration speech, Abe made it clear that he will take "economic and stable growth" and "social harmony and stability" as the core program, trying to attract middle-party voters who are concerned about the prospects for reform of the Thai Party.

But speaking of it, although the political arena in Thailand is currently competing fiercely, friendship with China has always been a consensus across parties.

Unchanging friendship with China.

This consensus comes from the long-term cooperation between the two countries.During the Shinawatra family's administration, Thaksin promoted trade liberalization between China and Thailand, Yingluck facilitated railway cooperation negotiations, and Peitontan accelerated the construction of China-Thailand railways during his tenure.

In March 2025, the second phase of the China-Thailand high-speed railway project was officially opened, which is the main traffic artery of the old railway north and south to Bangkok, and is expected to be fully connected by 2030, and will become the core hub of regional interconnection.

Even if Peyton-Tank departs, the Thai party still makes a clear statement that it will continue to advance the established agenda such as China-Thailand bridge projects and digital economic cooperation.

As a representative of conservatives, the Democratic Party also continues its pragmatic cooperation line with China.

During the reign of Abe, he attached great importance to China-Taiwan economic and trade and investment cooperation, and the core policies such as "increasing international competitiveness" and "optimizing the economic environment" were also put forward after the return.

The cooperation needs with China and Thailand in the areas of supply chain synergy, new energy development and regional interconnection are highly matched.

Can the Pheu Thai Party's "de-Shinawatization" win the trust of voters? Can Abhisit's "conservative card" save the Democratic Party's decline? Will the voting tendencies of young voters rewrite the traditional political landscape?

This issue is unknown to us at the moment, but we can be sure that the stability and depth of cooperation between China and Thailand will be important variables that will affect Thailand¡¯s economic recovery and regional influence.

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