IFES Election Guide - Election Profile for Thailand

Election Profile:

Overview

Results

Of Interest/Links

Sources

Country: Thailand
Official Name: Kingdom of Thailand
Election Type: Parliamentary
First Round: April 2, 2006
Second Round: April 23, 2006

Source for election date

At stake in this election:

500 seats in the House of Representatives (Sapha Phuthaen Ratsadon)

Description of government structure:

Chief of State: King BHUMIBOL Adulyadej
Head of Government: Prime Minister THAKSIN Shinawatra
Assembly: Thailand has a bicameral Bicameral National Assembly consisting of the Senate (Wuthisapha) with 200 seats and the House of Representatives (Sapha Phuthaen Ratsadon) with 500 seats.

Description of electoral system:

The King is hereditary N/A.
In the Senate (Wuthisapha) 200 members are elected by popular vote to serve 5-year terms. In the House of Representatives (Sapha Phuthaen Ratsadon), 400 members are elected by simple majority vote in single-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms and 100 members are elected by party list to serve 4-year terms.

Main parties in the First Round of the electoral race:

Party: Thai Rak Thai Party (TRT)*
Leader: THAKSIN Shinawatra
Seats won in last House of Representatives election: 376

* On February 27, Thailand�€™s main opposition parties �€“ the Democrat Party (Phak Prachatipat - PP), the Thai Nation Party (Phak Chart Thai - PCT) and the People�€™s Party (Mahachon Party - MP) - announced that they would not field any candidate in the April 2 election. They had demanded political reforms, demands that Prime Minister THAKSIN did not accept.