BANGKOK (AFP) – Thailand’s main opposition party relaunched with a new leader and name on Friday, two days after it was disbanded by the nation’s top court for campaigning to reform defamation laws.
The new party will be led by tech entrepreneur Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, 37, and known as “Prachachon”, or “People” in English, a spokesperson told journalists in Bangkok.
“I have been elected to become the leader of the party,” Natthaphong said.
“Our mission is to set up the ‘change’ government for the 2027 election.”
The Constitutional Court in Bangkok voted unanimously on Wednesday to dissolve the Move Forward Party (MFP), the vanguard of the country’s youthful pro-democracy movement, and ban its executive board members from politics for 10 years.
Those banned include 43-year-old Pita Limjaroenrat, who led the reformist MFP to a shock first place in a general election last year after striking a chord with young and urban voters with his pledge to reform Thailand’s strict royal defamation law.
The European Union, United States, United Nations and human rights groups blasted the court’s decision, which the EU said harmed democratic openness in Thailand.
