February 9, 2026
BANGKOK – ON stage at the indoor stadium in Bangkok on Friday night was Thai political rock star Rukchanok “Ice” Srinork. A recent poll ranked the 33-year-old first-time MP as the most popular politician in the country. Born in a Bangkok slum and abandoned by her parents, Rukchanok was raised by a working-class family. She has risen to become the face of a generational defiance against Thailand’s old guard.
As the People’s Party politician addressed the orange-clad crowd, the energy felt electrifying.
Every punchy line was met with a roar from supporters who see in her the antithesis of the polished, dynastic elite that has long ruled Thailand.
It was the final day of rallies by political parties ahead of today’s General Election in Thailand. I attended two of the three big party rallies on Friday.
Three parties are in the running to win the most seats out of the 500 up for grabs, which comprise 400 constituency seats and 100 party-list seats.
In Thailand’s usual colour-coordinated campaigns, the dark blue represents the Bhumjaithai Party, red is the Pheu Thai Party, and orange is the People’s Party.
I didn’t wait for the People’s Party leader, 38-year-old software entrepreneur Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, to speak after Ice left the stage. I wanted to attend Pheu Thai’s final rally 7.5km away. If Rukchanok is a rock star, then Pheu Thai prime minister candidate Yodchanan Wongsawat is a nerdy star. While she is a product of the slums, he comes from the ultimate political dynasty.
The 46-year-old associate professor, who holds a PhD in electrical engineering and specialises in brain-computer interfaces, is the nephew of former prime ministers Thaksin Shinawatra and Yingluck Shinawatra (Thaksin’s sister). Yodchanan first cousin is former PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who is Thaksin’s daughter. Yodchanan’s father, Somchai, was also a former PM, and his mother, Yaowapa Wongsawat, is Thaksin and Yingluck’s sister.
Unlike Ice, who is a naturally gifted orator, Yodchanan was uninspiring on the podium. But that didn’t dampen the mood of the thousands gathered. Nerdy can be politically sexy, it seems.
The red crowd was galvanised just to see a symbol of the Shinawatra legacy on stage. Pheu Thai is, after all, predominantly a Shinawatra-backed political party. Even though Thaksin remains in jail (for abuse of power), the supporters remember his time as prime minister from 2001 to 2006 as a period of prosperity.
The stadium was full of red power. While the orange rally had an organic feel, the Pheu Thai event was sleek and sophisticated, carrying the unmistakable aura of a party with real money, a sharp contrast to the People’s Party’s grassroots, crowd-funded energy.
I was being a political tourist in Thailand as I wanted to be on the ground to observe the election. There’s a difference between following it from an armchair in my house in Subang Jaya, Selangor, via social media and online news portals and seeing the candidates in the flesh, talking to the Thai people and hearing whispered political inside stories.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to attend the Bhumjaithai Party’s final rally. On social media, it looked like a sea of blue. It would have been good to get a sense of the vibes. The dark blue party is led by Anutin Charnvirakul, who was prime minister for the last five months.
The 59-year-old volunteer pilot and construction tycoon-turned- politician is a savvy dealmaker who rose to the premiership in September 2025 as a middleman candidate after the court-ordered removal of his predecessor.
(Paetongtarn Shinawatra was dismissed by the Constitutional Court for an ethics violation following a leaked phone call with Cambodia’s leader Hun Sen.)
For those who believe that “hidden hands” are calling the shots and will determine the next leader regardless of seat counts, Anutin is widely expected to remain PM even if his party doesn’t win the most seats. Many cynical political analysts say that politics has not changed since the 2006 coup.
On that Sept 19 night, I got a call about the coup and made my way to the building housing The Nation newspaper, where I was attached as the Asia News Network editor and The Star’s Thailand correspondent, and found the military securing the premises.
Thaksin was deposed in a military coup while he was out of the country that day. Since then, Thailand has seen a relentless cycle of judicial and military coups that have consistently dismantled the Shinawatra legacy: In 2008 Somchai was removed by a court ruling that dissolved his party just months into his term; in 2014 Yingluck was ousted by the Consti-tutional Court for “abuse of power” weeks before the military staged another full-scale coup; the latest, in 2025, was Paetongtarn, who was disqualified by the courts for a “lack of integrity” in that private conversation with Hun Sen.
Analysts are understandably cynical nowadays, having seen this script before. In 2023, “hidden hands” ensured that the Move Forward Party was blocked from power despite winning 151 seats out of the 500. The People’s Party is the latest reincarnation of that movement, which has been banned twice over.
In the coming days, some might feel a sense of déjà vu. No party is expected to win an outright majority of 251 seats. But a Thai political insider told me: “Don’t discount the Orange Party yet,” he said referring to the People’s Party. Especially if they win about 180 seats it seems.
There is a whisper that they might krab lae sue (kowtow) to the establishment just to get a foot in the door. He also noted that the powers that be are increasingly distrustful of incumbent Anutin, seeing him as a dealmaker who is too sleek.
Also, don’t discount the possibility that a Shinawatra could become PM again. It all depends on the deal and how many seats Pheu Thai wins.
In the end, Thai citizens might be voting today, but many of those in the know believe it is the hidden hands that will determine the country’s future.