May 9, 2023
BANGKOK – The debate was scheduled to be held in the River Park grounds in the IconSiam shopping mall complex from 6pm to 8pm and broadcast live on Nation TV (Channel 22).
The Nation Group decided to cancel the event because some participants called off their participation at the last minute.
Those scheduled to speak were Democrat Party’s Jurin Laksanawisit, Pheu Thai’s Srettha Thavisin, Move Forward’s Pita Limjaroenrat, Chart Pattana Kla’s Suwat Liptapanlop, Thai Sang Thai’s Sudarat Keyuraphan and Chart Thai Pattana’s Varawut Silpa-archa.
The aim of the “final debate” was to inform the public of the candidates’ visions and principles as well as their key policies before the election.
However, the Nation Group said, fierce competition in the runup to the election and other unexpected events put the debate’s actual intent in jeopardy. This happened because some parties were clearly not ready and could not keep their promises, the Nation Group’s management said, adding that keeping promises is a PM candidate’s basic qualification.
Nation Group tried to respond to the situation in different ways but eventually decided that cancelling the event would be the best solution under the current situation.
The broadcast of the debate will be replaced by the “Road to the Future” show’s “Path of the Leader” episode, which should provide comprehensive information on PM candidates that voters can use to make their decision on election day.