Thailand has dissolved its parliament following nearly a week of renewed clashes along the border with Cambodia, with a general election scheduled to take place within 45 to 60 days.
In a royal decree released on Friday, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul cited the deadly border conflict and other challenges that his minority government has struggled to manage since taking office three months ago.
“The appropriate solution is to dissolve parliament… which is a way to return political power to the people,” Anutin said.
A business tycoon, Anutin is Thailand’s third prime minister since August 2023. When he assumed office in September, he had pledged to dissolve parliament by the end of January.
But with a looming vote of no confidence, he moved the election timetable forward.
Anutin and his Bhumjaithai party faced heavy criticism for their handling of severe flooding in southern Thailand last month, which claimed at least 176 lives.
The dissolution occurs amid escalating clashes with Cambodia, which have resulted in at least 20 deaths and forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes.
“The government had executed every means in public administration to quickly resolve the urgent issues overwhelming the country… but running the country requires stability,” Anutin wrote in the decree, which was endorsed by Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
“As a minority government, together with troubling domestic political circumstances, it has been unable to carry out public administration continuously, effectively and with stability,” he added.
The move comes after Anutin lost backing from the youthful, progressive People’s Party—the largest party in parliament—which had previously supported his premiership.
The People’s Party and the conservative, pragmatic Bhumjaithai have widely divergent ideologies.
Support from the opposition bloc, however, had conditions. They demanded that Anutin begin reforms of Thailand’s military-drafted constitution and dissolve parliament within four months, among other requirements.
The People’s Party has now accused Bhumjaithai of failing to honor this agreement. It had planned to file a no-confidence motion on Friday and had urged the prime minister on Thursday to disband parliament to “show responsibility towards the people.”
“See you at the polling stations,” the party said in a statement on Facebook.
Thailand has experienced political instability over the past year, with two prime ministers removed by the courts.
Anutin’s predecessor, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, was dismissed for ethics violations after she referred to Cambodia’s former leader Hun Sen as “uncle” and criticized the Thai army in a leaked phone conversation.
Before her, Srettha Thavisin was also removed for ethics breaches after appointing a former lawyer, once jailed, to his cabinet.
