maybe if they all hold hands and sing kumbaya.....things will get better?

Country Intelligence - AnalysisPublished: Tue 26 Jun 2007 Thailand: New Political Party Already Facing Difficulties in Thailand Another new political party has announced its intention to register once the ban on forming new parties is lifted in Thailand. The Ruam Jai Thai (Thais United) has been formed by ten politicians and is backed by former deputy prime minister Somkid Jatusripitak. Somkid has been banned from politics for five years following a Constitutional Court ruling in May, but looks set to return to the political sphere in an advisory capacity. In an early setback for the party, the Matchima Party refused to join its ranks, as had been anticipated. Matchima is a breakaway faction of the former ruling and now-dissolved Thai Rak Thai (TRT), and is headed by Somsak Thepsuthin. Somsak previously sought to court Somkid into joining his party, but now argues that the ban on political activity for Somkid means he cannot be at the forefront of politics and, as such, the two parties should go in different directions. Separately, yesterday also saw coup leader and head of the Council for National Security (CNS), Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, announce that he may go into politics when he retires later this year.

Significance: A number of new parties have been unveiled in the past year or so, and more since the May Constitutional Court ruling against the TRT. Each appears to state that it is offering Thais a new political platform, but it is difficult to envisage the pre-poll situation becoming anything but increasingly complicated and fractured. This in turn suggests there will be a coalition government following the elections, which could create further insecurity rather than the stability that is being sought.

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