The heavy axe that the Constitutional Court wielded on the Move Forward Party (MFP) earlier this week failed to stop its resurrection on Friday as the People's Party (PP).
During the brief transition, MFP members temporarily sheltered with the little-known Thinkakhao Chaovilai Party before forming the new party, which Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, 37, will helm.
While it was previously speculated that some MFP members might be bought by major coalition parties, all 143 members and 11 city councillors moved together to the new house.
Of course, the People's Party hopes for a big victory in the next election in 2027.
As the MFP, it won the poll with 151 MPs out of 14 million votes last year, but another 100 MPs are needed to meet its new goal.
It's a tall order, given that Pita Limjaroenrat, MFP chief advisor, and Chaitawat Tulathon, MFP leader, are to be on the sidelines for ten years as per Wednesday's charter court ruling.
However, any adverse impacts are expected to be short-lived.
The MFP knew its Section 112 amendment policy put the party at risk. But the party's dissolution was unexpected, as dissolution is a useless method of ending a party, as seen when Thai Rak Thai and the Future Forward Party bounced back stronger in new guises.
But unfortunately, the court ignores such realities.
The dissolution will enable the party to earn more sympathy while its original supporters remain faithful.
There are those who may worry that some of its supporters may be disheartened and bored with political stagnation and, amid despair, may lose interest in politics.
But the party has a "plan B".
Apart from keeping the number of party executives minimal and saving some prominent members by not appointing them to executive positions at the political frontline, it also has generations of prospective leaders and party executives in the background if a worst-case scenario ever occurs.
However, the nightmare is not over, with 44 MFP members who signed a bill seeking to revise Section 112 facing a probe by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) in a case pushed by lawyer Theerayut Suwankesorn.
The anti-graft agency has ordered an inquiry against the 44 MFP MPs. Among them are the PP leader, several big names, and rising stars like Sirikanya Tansakul, Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn, and Rangsiman Rome.
The proceedings will be time-consuming, limiting MPs from performing their duties.
There will remain public curiosity about the party's position on amending Section 112, also known as the lese majeste law. By dropping it, the MFP will lose its political DNA.
Meanwhile, the new party can and will score by sticking to the MFP strategy of fiercely scrutinising government performance and pushing forward on crucial legislation.
Within a year, MFP lawmakers proposed 60 draft laws. They were also active in the country's major issues, such as energy reform, military budget spending, human rights, and the invasive blackchin tilapia fish.
The new party's real challenge in the next three years will be to perform as the opposition and be an efficient check-and-balance mechanism in parliament.
It has to be able to convince the public that it differs from friend-turned-foe Pheu Thai, which has now transformed into a new right-wing party, compromising with the old powers.
The new party must prove to the public that it can be relied on.
In doing so, it must embrace flexibility and, in certain cases, compromise.
It must do this while maintaining its flagship policies, such as those focused on welfare, and endeavouring to keep key agencies like the military and police in line.
It needs to prove that its promises for change are real.
It's worth repeating that it's time for the powerful establishment to accept that party dissolutions should no longer be done. Such a drastic measure only widens rifts in the country, pushing it closer to a crisis.
And they will soon see with their own eyes that dissolution is just a wasteful and counterproductive measure. Don't they ever learn the lesson that the parties they crush always grow back and prosper?