United Thai Nation Party

The United Thai Nation Party (UTN), known in Thai as Ruam Thai Sang Chart ( th, พรรครวมไทยสร้างชาติ, ) is a Thai political party founded in March 2021 by Pirapan Salirathavibhag. It is running in the 2023 Thai election with incumbent Prime Minster Prayut Chan-o-cha as the party's candidate for Prime Minister.

History

The UTN was founded in March 2021 by Seksakol Atthawong, a former aide to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, to back Prayut's as Prime Minister after the 2023 election.

Pirapan Salirathavibhaga, the current leader of UTN, a former Democrat Party MP and an adviser to the prime minister, had previously said the UTN would welcome Prayut if he decided to leave the Palang Pracharath Party. The UTN has also pulled in several MPs defecting from the Democrat Party. Among them is Akanat Promphan, a former deputy secretary-general of the Democrat Party, who now serves as the UTN's secretary-general. However Akanat told the Bangkok Post that the UTN is not a political offshoot of the Democrat Party. "With former Democrats joining the UTN, the party may seem like a branch of the Democrat Party, but that is not the case." Akanat said he had a close bond with the Democrat Party, with his mother, Srisakul Promphan, being a former Democrat Party MP for Nakhon Ratchasima, while several of his relatives are also staunch supporters. However, he said he decided to resign from the Democrat Party early this year to pursue new opportunities at the UTN.

Incumbent Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha officially joined the party on 23 December 2022, and confirmed he was running as the Prime Minister candidate for UTN. Akanat said UTN hoped to win around 100 seats in parliament in the 2023 election following Prayut's decision to join the party. Political pundits said Prayut's decision to join the party will give it a popularity boost among prospective candidates in the polls. Akanat said earlier rumours that about 40 key MPs from other parties would defect to the UTN proved largely true. He also stated that following Prayut announcement of being the party's prime ministerial candidate, the number of frontrunners joining UTN was expected to rise. ''The Diplomat'' reported the timing of Prayut switching party was strategic, as it occured at a critical period when Prayut, who has grown apart from his old allies in the ruling Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP), has been trying to revamp his image ahead of the upcoming 2023 general election. ''The Diplomat'' labelled UTN as right-wing on the political spectrum and reported that UTN is expected to be less compromising than the PPRP, which is headed Prawit Wongsuwan, an accommodationist who blends in with many political factions, including those in the opposition camp.

Akanat said the UTN would be willing to work with any political party as long as their political ideologies corresponded to its own, in response to a question as to whether the UTN would be prepared to work with the main opposition Pheu Thai Party. The UTN is seen by observers as a potential close ally of the yellow-shirt People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), but the fact is that many members of the rival red-shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) have now joined the UTN. The party is likely to gain support in the South, where Prayut is popular, observers also said. Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan told reporters, his ruling PPRP is virtually the same party as UTN, which Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had joined. However, Prayut did not confirm if he would ally with PPRP and instead said it would depend on the outcomes of the next election while adding their relationship remained unchanged.

Pheu Thai Party, meanwhile, urged the Election Commission (EC) to monitor Gen Prayut's role as prime minister to ensure he cannot abuse his power and use it as an opportunity to woo votes and exploit state organisations to support UTN's campaign.

Election Results

See also

* Democrat Party

References

{{Political parties in Thailand

Political parties in Thailand
Political parties established in 2021