Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul dissolved parliament this Friday (December 12, 2025) after three months in office, paving the way for general elections.
The measure, announced in a royal decree, comes earlier than expected and amid new border conflicts with Cambodia that have killed around twenty people and displaced more than half a million people.
“The House of Representatives is dissolved in order to hold new general elections to elect its members,” said the decree published in the Official Gazette.
Anutin, of the conservative Bhumjaithai Party, took office in September after his predecessor was removed by a court for breaching the ethics code, and vowed to dissolve parliament earlier this year.
However, he was not expected to make the decision until after Christmas.
“Considering that the government is a minority government and the domestic political situation is characterized by numerous challenges, the government cannot continue to manage the affairs of the state in a continuous, efficient and stable manner,” the Royal Gazette said, citing a report obtained by Anutin.
King supports dissolving the legislature
For his part, King Vajiralongkorn of Thailand supported the request made the day before by Charnvirakul, who governs in the minority, to dissolve Parliament with a view to calling elections to be held within a period of between 45 and 60 days.
Charnvirakul was elected as Thailand’s prime minister on September 7 after former leader Paetongarn Shinawatra was fired amid another territorial dispute with Cambodia.
The conservative prime minister heads an executive with a parliamentary minority and took power with the obligation to call elections within four months, a condition that the reformist People’s Party (PP, the most represented formation in the chamber) then wanted to guarantee him in the election for Thailand’s 32nd prime minister.
In June, Anutin’s party abandoned the coalition government with the Pheu Thai Party, then led by Paetongarn, as the former president’s criticism of the army emerged in connection with the historic territorial conflict between Thailand and Cambodia, which erupted last Sunday and left at least 24 dead, confirmed by the respective parties, after claiming around fifty lives in July.gs (afp, ap, reuters)
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