This chapter brings into view important political actors, particularly political parties, in the Thai political scene since the 22 March election. Between the March and September elections, there were some significant changes with regard to major political parties. First, a general picture of the political parties in Thailand is presented, followed by a discussion of a number of political parties that played major roles in the two elections.

If the political development of a country can be judged by the maturity of political parties of that country, Thailand would rank relatively low. The Thai party system has not been able to serve as a strong base on which a democratic system can develop. Nevertheless, considerable development has already taken place in the party system since the 1970s. Weaknesses in the Thai political party system can be seen in at least two areas. First, in terms of their organization, political parties in Thailand are peer-based rather than people-based. That is, parties are not so much a mass party based on certain shared political beliefs as a forum where political friends gather for specific, short-term interests. Because of this characteristic, the party base is narrow and shallow. Also, this makes party- switching a common thing. Causes of splits can be personal rather than ideological, or a change of party may take place when a switchover brings about better political opportunities. A politician who has switched party would generally not feel guilty about it, and some have switched to more than three parties over the course of two general elections; yet they continue to get elected and can hold up their heads. This situation is not alarming especially when party-switching is done on the basis of loyalty to friends. But it damages the political system when politicians can be literally “bought off by a wealthier party, which shows that politicians are after money rather than political programmes.

Secondly, in terms of political programmes. Thai parties are interest-based rather than policy-based.