People’s Party leader Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut has warned that Thailand remains under a “blue regime” that concentrates power in the hands of elites, as he called for the creation of a new “politics of hope” through the drafting of a new constitution.
In a statement posted on his Facebook account on the 12th anniversary of the 2014 military coup on Friday, Mr Natthaphong, also the opposition leader, said that although tanks have disappeared from the streets, the process of stripping power from the people has continued in more subtle but increasingly severe forms.
He pointed to at least 200 legal cases, including lese-majeste charges, being pursued to silence the public, adding that peaceful demonstrators had faced crackdowns on at least 74 occasions, and at least seven major political parties had been dissolved over the past 12 years.
“These are signs that the process of taking power away from the people has not weakened, but has become more intense and more sophisticated,” said the People’s Party leader.
While Thailand is no longer under the rule of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), the country remains trapped under a “blue regime” born out of the 2017 constitution, which he described as a legacy of the coup led by Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha.
Blue is the colour of the Bhumjaithai Party that leads the current coalition government after a decisive electoral victory in February. Bhumjaithai also effectively controls the Senate, while investigations into widespread vote-rigging and money laundering in the 2024 Senate election move forward at a snail’s pace.
People’s Party leader Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut on Friday posted a photo on his Facebook account of himself with coup-makers in the background and the message “From the May 22, 2014 coup to the politics of the blue regime”.
The system that has evolved since 2014 has reshaped political institutions and legal frameworks to ensure that power rests with an elite disconnected from the electorate, placing it above the authority derived from the people, said Mr Natthaphong.
He accused the Constitutional Court, independent agencies, the Senate and the justice system of being used as tools to obstruct, isolate or destroy those who challenge the interests of the ruling establishment.
“The structure has been designed to elevate elite interests above those of the majority, and to ensure that the country’s future is dictated by a small group rather than by the public.”
Under this arrangement, he said, people who dare to challenge entrenched power structures face obstruction, isolation or removal through mechanisms involving the Constitutional Court, independent agencies, the Senate and judicial processes.
His own party, for example, was preceded by two earlier iterations — Future Forward and Move Forward — that were dissolved by the charter court.
Mr Natthaphong said key institutions have deviated from their intended role of safeguarding democracy, instead undermining its fundamental principles — including the sovereignty of the people and the protection of basic rights and freedoms.
“These bodies are able to exercise power in a distorted and unaccountable manner, as people have no effective means to scrutinise or remove them,” he said.
The 39-year-old opposition leader also accused those in power of pursuing political and economic dominance. He alleged that control was consolidated politically through appointments to the Constitutional Court, independent bodies, the military, police, judiciary and civil service, and economically through support for business groups aligned with the regime.
He said such a political system lacks both the will and the capacity to respond to the needs of the people, resulting in stalled structural reforms, declining confidence in the justice system, worsening inequality and entrenched corruption.
Despite this, Mr Natthaphong expressed confidence that public support remains the key battleground for political change.
“The field that belongs to us is the field of hope and winning the hearts of the people,” he said. “No regime can monopolise the rules in that arena because no system can prevent people from hoping for a better future.”
He called on the public to unite in building “people’s power” to move Thailand beyond the “blue regime”, saying the first step would be drafting a new democratic constitution that is genuinely connected to the people.
“We want a democratic constitution. We want a country that belongs to the people. We want a society where everyone is equal and where there is a future for our children and grandchildren,” he said.
