General Information
Note on the results: The above results are not exhaustive; they reflect only the parties that won the most seats.
At stake in this election:
- 500 seats in the House of Representatives
Description of government structure:
- Chief of State: King MAHA Vajiralonkorn
- Head of Government: Prime Minister PRAYUT Chan-O-Cha
- Assembly: Thailand has a bicameral National Assembly (Rathasapha) consisting of the Senate (Wuthisapha) with 250 seats and the House of Representatives (Sapha Phuthael Ratsadon) with 500 seats.
Description of electoral system:
- Members of the Senate are appointed for five-year terms.
- In the House of Representatives (Sapha Phuthaen Ratsadon), 350 members are elected by plurality vote in single-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms and 150 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.
- The new Constitution elaborates a new mixed member apportionment electoral system. Despite there being two separate types of seats to fill in this new system voters make only one “fused” choice on the ballot. A voter’s mark on the ballot will now indicate their choice of a constituency representative and their choice of a political party as the basis for the distribution of the 150 party list seats (see below). These decisions were separate under Thailand’s previous mixed system (i.e., voters were given two marks and the latitude to choose a local constituency representative from one party and a party list from another party). Distribution of the party list seats are now determined by each party’s share of the popular fused vote. The number of single-member seats won are subtracted from the share of all 500 seats a party would receive based on the popular vote. The remainder is roughly the number of PR seats awarded to that party. For example, if a party won 20% of the vote and 55 single-member constituency seats, they would be awarded roughly 45 PR seats: 100 seats (20% of 500) less the 55 single-member constituency seats. This compensatory mechanism for awarding the 150 party list seats is also different from previous Thai electoral systems and is likely to affect parties’ election strategies.
Main parties in the electoral race:*
- Party: Pheu Thai Party / พรรคเพื่อไทย
- Leader: VIROJ Pao-in
- Party: Democrat Party / พรรคประชาธิปัตย์
- Leader: ABHISIT Vejjajiva
- Party: Palang Pracharat Party / พรรคพลังประชารัฐ
- Leader: UTTAMA Savanayana
- Party: Future Forward / พรรคอนาคตใหม่
- Leader: THANATHORN Juangroongruangkit
- Party: Chart Pattana Party / พรรคชาติพัฒนา
- Leader: TEWAN Liptapanlop
- Party: Bhumjaithai Party (BJT) / พรรคภูมิใจไทย
- Leader: ANUTIN Charnvirakul
- Party: Charthaipattana Party (CP) / พรรคชาติไทยพัฒนา
- Leader: KANCHANA Silpa-archa
* As of March 1, there were 77 registered parties in this election.
Population and Registered Voters:
- Population: 69,306,160 (2019 est.)
- Registered Voters: 51,419,975
Gender Data:
- Female Population: 35,554,672 (2019 est.)
- Is Thailand a signatory to CEDAW: No
- Has Thailand ratified CEDAW: Yes, accession (9 August 1985)
- Gender Quota: No
- Female candidates in this election: Yes
- Number of Female Parliamentarians: 40 (5.3%)
- Human Development Index Position: 83 (2018)
- Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Medium (2019)
Disability Data:
- Is Thailand a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)
- Has Thailand ratified CRPD: Yes (29 July 2008)
- Population with a disability: 10,96,461 (est.)