At Stake in this Election:  

• Voters in Thailand will vote on whether they agree that the country should have a new constitution.  

• Elections for the House of Representatives are occurring concurrently.  

Government Structure: 

• Chief of State: King MAHA VAJIRALONGKORN PHRA VAJIRAKLAOCHAOYUHUA (since 13 October 2016) 

• Head of Government: Prime Minister Anutin CHARNVIRAKUL (since 7 September 2025) 

• Assembly: bicameral National Assembly (Rathhasapha / รัฐสภา), comprised of a 500-seat House of Representatives (Saphaphuthan Ratsadon / สภาผู้แทนราษฎร) and a 200-seat Senate (Wuthisapha / วุฒิสภา).  

Electoral System: 

• The monarchy is hereditary.  

• The Prime Minister is appointed by the King after being approved by parliament. The Prime Minister is also called the President of the National Assembly.  The leader of the Senate serves as the Vice-President of the National Assembly.  

• Members of the House of Representatives (Saphaphuthan Ratsadon / สภาผู้แทนราษฎร) are directly elected. 350 members are elected on a constituency basis and 150 are selected from party lists. Members serve 4-year terms. 

• Members of Senate (Wuthisapha / วุฒิสภา) are indirectly elected. Candidates for senate represent 20 different occupational groups and serve 5-year terms.  

Last Election: 

The last referendum was held on August 7, 2016. The referendum included two questions for voters’ approval. The first concerned senators jointly electing the Prime Minister, along with members of the House of Representatives and it passed with 58% of the vote. The second question concerned the approval of a new constitution, which passed with 61% of the vote. Voter turnout was 59%.  

New/Unique in this Election: 

This election is being held concurrently with a snap parliamentary election, called in December 2025.  

Key Deadlines: 

• Candidate filing deadline: n/a 

• Voter registration deadline: n/a, registration is passive. 

Country Context: 

• Population: 71,668,011 (2024 estimate) 

• Registered Voters: 52,195,920 (2023 estimate) 

• V-Dem Electoral Democracy Index Score: 0.389 (2024) 

• V-Dem Regimes of the World Classification: Electoral Autocracy (2024) 

• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 0.798, High, Rank 76 

Gender Data: 

• Female Population: 36,772,621 (2024 estimate) 

• CEDAW Status: Ascended 9 Aug 1985 

• Gender Quota: No legislated quotas. Some parties have adopted voluntary quotas.  

• Female Candidates in this election: n/a 

• Number of Female Legislators (pre-election): 97 out of 495 (19.6%) in the lower house and 45 out of 200 (22.5%) in the upper chamber. 

• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: 32.6 (2023 estimate) 

Disability Data: 

• CRPD Status: Signed 30 March 2007, Ratified 29 July 2008 

• Projected population with a disability: 11,466,882 (2024 estimate)