Political Instability Claims Another Thai PM; New Poll in Jan-Feb

Thailand is set for another election after its king endorsed a move by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to dissolve parliament on Friday.

The move comes amid a border conflict with Cambodia, but is no surprise, given he headed a minority government that has sought to calm the country’s deep political divide during a period of regional upheaval.

Anutin, who took the top office on September 7, has, like his predecessor, had to counter concerns over the proliferation of scam centres in three neighbouring states, plus dramatic floods in the far South, and impacts from the bitter civil war in Myanmar, which has raged for nearly five years.

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The trigger for this earlier-than-expected poll was Anutin’s desire to head off a no-confidence vote. The PM announced late on Thursday that he was “returning power to the people”, and King Maha Vajiralongkorn approved his petition to dissolve the house, according to a Royal Gazette notice posted overnight. That will allow an election to be held as early as February.

The royal decree published early today stated that according to the PM, “as a minority government, facing many domestic political issues from several directions, the government can no longer govern in a manner that is continuous, effective, and stable.”

Anutin’s play comes as an armed border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia entered a fifth day, with at least 20 people killed, close to 200 wounded and hundreds of thousands of people displaced in multiple areas along their 817km-long frontier.

Late on Thursday, US President Donald Trump, who intervened in July the last time fighting erupted, reiterated his plan to call leaders of both countries and try to end the conflict.

The red dots on this Reuters map show the scene of clashes on the long Thai-Cambodian frontier on December 10 and 11, 2025.

Drama in parliament

Anutin’s decision to dissolve the house came less than 100 days after he was sworn in, and occurred amid high drama in parliament that raised expectations that the opposition People’s Party, the biggest force in the house, would file a no-confidence motion against him.

The election, which must take place within 45 to 60 days, raises the spectre of even more political turmoil in Thailand, which for the past two decades has seen multiple elected governments and parties brought down by coups (in 2006 and 2014) and court rulings in an intractable power struggle involving rival elites and progressive forces.

Anutin was elected prime minister by parliament in September after a court removed Paetongtarn Shinawatra from office, with his rise only possible due to a deal he struck with the People’s Party to back him, on the condition that he start the process of amending the constitution and then dissolve the house in late January.

But chaos ensued in a joint sitting of the legislature on Thursday over the voting process to amend the constitution. Opposition leader Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut said Anutin’s party had reneged on an agreement and a government spokesperson said a no-confidence motion was being planned.

Electoral challenge

An astute political deal-maker and Thailand’s third prime minister in two years, Anutin faces an uphill struggle to be re-elected, with polls consistently showing the liberal opposition (People’s Power) to be the country’s most popular party.

A forerunner to the People’s Party won the 2023 election on an anti-establishment platform but was blocked from forming a government by lawmakers allied with the royalist military.

Anutin on Friday told reporters his decision to dissolve parliament would not affect management of the conflict with Cambodia and government spokesman Siripong Angkasakulkiat told Nation TV the caretaker administration has “full authority”.