The Chart Pattana Kla Party ( th, พรรคชาติพัฒนากล้า) is a Thai

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

. In

2007 Thai general election General elections were held in Thailand on 23 December. They were the first elections after the Council for National Security, a military junta, had overthrown Thailand's elected government and abrogated the constitution on September 19, 2006. Th ...

, the chairman of the party is

Wannarat Channukul Wannarat Channukul ( th, วรรณรัตน์ ชาญนุกูล, ; born 8 March 1949 in Nakhon Ratchasima) is a Thai physician and politician. He is the leader of the Chart Pattana Puea Pandin Party. From 2008 to 2011, he was Minist ...

. His brother-in-law, the party's "chief advisor"

Suwat Liptapanlop Suwat Liptapanlop ( th, สุวัจน์ ลิปตพัลลภ, , ; born 9 February 1955 in Ratchaburi Province) is a Thai entrepreneur, politician and sports official based in Nakhon Ratchasima. He has held different cabinet posts in ...

is however considered its ''de facto'' leader.

History

It was founded under the name of ''Ruam Jai Thai Chart Pattana'' ("Thais United National Development Party") as a merger of

Thais United Thais can be the plural of ''Thai'' and refer to: * The Thai people, the main ethnic group of Thailand * The Thai peoples or Tai peoples, the ethnic groups of southern China and Southeast Asia In the singular, Thais may refer to: People Ancien ...

and the former National Development Party in September 2007. In the

, the party received enough votes to gain eight out of 480 seats in the

House of Representatives of Thailand The House of Representatives ( th, สภาผู้แทนราษฎร; ; ) is the lower house of the National Assembly of Thailand, the legislative branch of the Thai government. The system of government of Thailand is that of a constitu ...

. After 2008, the party was a member of the six-party

coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

led by the Democrat Party's leader,

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Abhisit Vejjajiva. The party's leader Wannarat Channukul was Minister of Energy in Abhisit's cabinet. The party name was shortened to ''Ruam Chart Pattana''. In 2011, the Ruam Chart Pattana Party merged with the

Puea Pandin Party Puea Pandin Party ( th, พรรคเพื่อแผ่นดิน) is a Thai political party founded on September 11, 2007, by more than 200 politicians. Its most notable members included Thaksin's former foreign minister Surakiart Sathir ...

and changed its name to ''Chart Pattana Puea Pandin''. In the election on 3 July 2011, the party won 7 of the 500 seats in the House of Representatives, five constituency-based and two on the party list. Four of its constituencies are in

Nakhon Ratchasima Nakhon Ratchasima ( th, นครราชสีมา, ) is one of the four major cities of Isan, Thailand, known as the "big four of Isan". The city is commonly known as Korat (, ), a shortened form of its name. It is the governmental seat of ...

, the party's stronghold and home province of its leaders. After the elections and

Pheu Thai Party The Pheu Thai Party (PTP; th, พรรคเพื่อไทย, lit=For Thais Party, , ) is the third incarnation of a Thai political party founded by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The Pheu Thai Party was founded on 20 Septemb ...

's victory, the party agreed with Pheu Thai and three other minor parties to form a coalition government under the leadership of

Yingluck Shinawatra Yingluck Shinawatra ( th, ยิ่งลักษณ์ ชินวัตร, , ; ; born 21 June 1967), nicknamed Pou ( th, ปู, , , meaning "crab"), is a Thai businesswoman, politician and a member of the Pheu Thai Party who became the Pri ...

. Later in 2011, the party name was again simplified to its current version. Thai tennis player

Paradorn Srichaphan Paradorn Srichaphan ( th, ภราดร ศรีชาพันธุ์; ; ; born 14 June 1979) is a retired professional tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or betw ...

an taekwando athlete

Yaowapa Boorapolchai Yaowapa Boorapolchai ( th, เยาวภา บุรพลชัย; ; born September 6, 1984 at Bangkok) is a Thai taekwondo athlete who was the bronze medalist in the women's under 49 kg event at the 2004 Summer Olympics. She graduate ...

joined the Chart Pattana Party to run in the 2011 elections. Sophon Kaosoo, 50, a Chart Pattana Party candidate was killed while campaigning in the local council elections, due to take place on March 2, 2014. Police believe that the assassination was most likely politically motivated. Later, at the 2/2022 Extraordinary Annual General Meeting on Monday, September 26, 2022 in Nakhon Ratchasima Province, the meeting resolved to change the party regulations and the name of the party to the Chart Pattana Kla Party. At the same time, there was also a resolution to elect

Korn Chatikavanij Korn Chatikavanij ( th, กรณ์ จาติกวณิช, , born 19 February 1964 in London) is a Thai Democrat Party (Thailand), Democrat Party politician, best selling author, and former investment banker. From 2008 to 2011, he was Minis ...

, former leader of

Kla Party The Kla Party is a political party in Thailand led by Korn Chatikavanij, a former member of the Democrat Party (Thailand), Democrat Party. In 2022, the party participated in the Bangkok metropolitan council election but failed to secure any seats ...

, to be a member of the party's executive committee.'สุวัจน์' มั่นใจรีแบรนด์ 'ชาติพัฒนากล้า' เพิ่มความเข้มแข็ง ยังไม่เปลี่ยนหัวหน้าพรรค
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References

Political parties in Thailand Centrist parties in Thailand Political parties established in 2007 {{thailand-party-stub