BANGKOK: Thailand faces an early election after King Maha Vajiralongkorn approved Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s request to dissolve parliament on Friday, December 12, 2025, amid escalating border clashes with Cambodia and brewing parliamentary unrest.
Anutin announced late Thursday he was “returning power to the people,” with the royal gazette confirming the dissolution overnight, the stage for polls within 45-60 days, potentially as early as February 2026. The move preempts a no-confidence from the opposition People’s Party, Thailand’s largest parliamentary force, following chaotic debates over constitutional amendments.
The decision comes less than 100 days after Anutin’s September swearing-in as Thailand’s third prime minister in two years, following a court ousting Paetongtarn Shinatra. Anutin’s coalition relied on a deal with the People’s Party for constitutional reforms dissolution by late January, but Thursday’s legislative chaos alleged broken agreements on voting procedures derailed that pact.
Thailand’s political instability persists against a backdrop of chronic elite-progressive power struggles, marked by coups and court interventions over two decades. Polls favor the liberal People’s Party, successor to the 2023 election winner blocked by royalist-military allies.
Compounding the crisis is a fierce border conflict with Cambodia entering its fifth since December 7, 2025. Clashes along the 817-km frontier, centered on disputed temples like Preah Vihear and Ta Muen Thom, have killed at least 20, wounded nearly 200, and displaced hundreds of thousands. Thailand launched Operation Sattawa on December 10, seizing northern Cambodian localities with F-16 strikes and ground operations after alleged Cambodian provocations. Martial law governs Thai border districts, drone flights are banned, and artillery exchanges including cluster munitions continue, as shown in Al Jazeera footage from Buriram, where rockets hit civilian areas.
Anutin, now caretaker PM, insists the dissolution won’t hinder conflict management and holds “full authority.” He scheduled a 2120 local time (1420 GMT) call Friday with U.S. President Donald Trump, who brokered a short-lived July ceasefire after 48 deaths and 300,000 displacements. Trump, speaking at Thursday’s Congressional Ball, claimed to have “solved eight wars” and vowed to revive the truce, saying Thailand and Cambodia need “a couple of phone calls.”
-Kitiphong Thaicharoen
