Global Courant 2023-05-06 18:25:00
BANGKOK – Popular games for children in Thailand are marbles, “finger guessing” and takraw. For Ms. Sirikanya Tansakun, her favorite game with her late father was something completely different.
“He shouted a politician’s name and I shouted the last name, or vice versa. That was our game, and it made me very interested in politics when I was young,” Ms. Sirikanya told The Straits Times.
The game, which grew out of their shared hobby of reading the newspaper together, eventually helped her enter politics. Today, the 42-year-old former scientist is causing a stir as deputy leader of the opposition party Move Forward. She is also the youngest economic team leader of the major political parties contesting Thailand’s upcoming May 14 elections.
And then there is Ms. Tipanan Sirichana, 39.
Hailing from the pro-establishment United Thai Nation (UTN) party seeking to bring back incumbent Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha as prime minister, she has faced some tough questions from voters who dislike the former leader of the coup.
“But I have seen how he works and his plans to improve Thailand. So I believe in him and in party policies,” said Tipanan, a former lawyer who is deputy spokesperson for the government on caretaker cases.
The two women are among a growing number of younger candidates in their thirties and early forties in a political landscape filled with male politicians in their fifties and sixties.
With different perspectives and beliefs, these fresh politicians inject progressive politics into the mix and give traditional parties a facelift with their reach among younger voters and on social media.
Sirikanya’s Move Forward party, for example, touts a progressive agenda, which includes election promises to rewrite the constitution drafted by the junta and amend the lèse majeste law – both of which are considered controversial by conservative society.
The former academic leads the policy for Move Forward, which is led by Pita Limjaroenrat, also 42.
According to opinion polls, the party has strong support among young and new voters. In the upcoming election, those 42 and under will make up about half of the electorate.
The emergence of new faces in recent years is due in part to Move Forward’s entry into the landscape, said political scientist Wanwichit Boonprong, noting that the party’s move to field younger candidates has spurred others to take a page out of his book.
“I think there is a good chance that we will see a growing number of younger politicians than before,” he said, adding that he has noticed this trend since the 2019 election.
The average age of Move Forward MPs is 44, compared to more than 57 in other political parties, the Thailand Development Research Institute think tank noted in a 2023 article. Meanwhile, Thailand’s cabinet, which is also predominantly male, has an average age of 65 years.
“As a younger generation, we need to change the landscape of parliament,” said Ms. Sirikanya.
