Disqualified Reformist Sees Long-term Change In Thailand

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Young Thai reformist Pita Limjaroenrat, who led his party to the most votes in elections but was blocked from office, voiced hope Monday for long-term changes even if his own political fate is uncertain.

Pita’s Move Forward Party triumphed in May elections, backed by young and urban Thais disenchanted by a near-decade of rule by military-linked parties.

But Move Forward wound up in opposition after election runners-up Pheu Thai allied with pro-military parties. Pita himself was suspended from parliament as the Constitutional Court rules on his alleged ownership in a now-defunct media company.

On a visit to Washington, Pita said his reformist camp had to “restrategize,” acknowledging that the other side had control over the electoral system.

“I’m not going to try to overthrow the government every day. That’s not what we’re trying to do here. I have time. I can wait,” the 43-year-old Harvard-educated businessman said at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Promising to be “constructive,” Pita said his efforts would be on presenting an “alternative Thailand” on issues from climate change to an aging society to digital disruption.

“It takes time — not just winning elections, but also dominating ideas,” he said.

Pita’s party met vehement opposition from the conservative establishment for its pledge to soften the kingdom’s strict royal anti-defamation laws.

Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s new coalition brings together his Pheu Thai party — long a vehicle for tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra — and backers of the military which overthrew prime ministers from Thaksin’s clan in 2006 and 2014.

Pita said the aftermath of the latest election showed a “realignment” of sides in Thai politics.

“The people of Thailand have spoken,” he said. “Radical is the new normal.”