Thailand has dissolved parliament after a week of deadly clashes along its border with Cambodia, setting the stage for a general election expected within the next two months.
A royal decree issued on Friday confirmed Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s decision to end the term of his minority government, which has struggled to contain a series of crises since taking office three months ago.
Anutin cited the escalating border conflict, domestic political instability and the government’s limited ability to act decisively as reasons for calling an early vote.
He described the dissolution as a return of political authority to the public. His administration has faced rising pressure, including a looming vote of no confidence and widespread criticism of its response to severe flooding in southern Thailand that killed at least 176 people last month.
The move comes amid renewed fighting with Cambodia that has claimed at least 20 lives and displaced hundreds of thousands along the frontier. Anutin wrote in the decree, endorsed by King Maha Vajiralongkorn, that the government had exhausted all tools available to manage the overlapping crises but lacked the stability needed for effective governance.
His political troubles deepened after losing the support of the People’s Party, the youthful progressive bloc that holds the largest number of seats in parliament. The party had supported his premiership on the condition that he begin reforms to the military drafted constitution and dissolve parliament within four months. It accused his Bhumjaithai party of reneging on that agreement and threatened to table a no confidence motion on Friday.
The party responded to the dissolution with a pointed message on social media: voters would now decide the country’s future at the polls.
Thailand has endured a turbulent political year marked by the removal of two previous prime ministers on ethics breaches. Paetongtarn Shinawatra was dismissed after critical remarks about the military surfaced in a leaked call, while Srettha Thavisin was ousted for appointing a former lawyer with a criminal record to his cabinet.
The country now heads toward another election under familiar uncertainty.
