A group of Democrat Party MPs targeting Deputy Agriculture Minister Thamanat Prompow, who won the fewest votes in Friday's no-confidence vote, said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha must work on improving the government's image.
Gen Prayut and five other cabinet ministers survived the no-confidence vote, though two were not grilled during the four-day debate.
Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon walked away with 277 out of 329, or the highest number of votes, even though his performance never came up in the debate, while Capt Thamanat got the fewest votes -- 269 out of 331.
Shortly before the vote, a group of Democrat MPs held a briefing saying they did not want to vote for Capt Thamanat but had to comply with the party's stance.
MP Sathit Wongnongtoey, one of the 17 Democrat MPs who doubted Capt Thamanat, said the group wanted to indicate that it was time Gen Prayut took action, especially since Capt Thamanat did not win much confidence.
"We hope the prime minister will listen and think again ... because the government's stability depends on the confidence of the people. We are concerned about the matter because the government's image is also linked to that of a cabinet minister," Mr Sathit said.
Capt Thamanat, a key figure in the ruling Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP), was one of six ministers targeted in the debate, and when grilled on Thursday, he strongly denied he was imprisoned for drug trafficking in Australia. He also claimed the opposition MPs had omitted certain information when discussing the case he was implicated in.
Before the vote, Capt Thamanat said he wasn't worried about its results, saying he had done his best to explain himself.
It was noteworthy that Gen Prawit, one of the censure targets, won 277 votes -- five more than the 272 Gen Prayut won. It was reported these five votes came from two opposition parties -- three from Seri Ruam Thai Party and two from Pheu Thai Party.
After the vote, Gen Prayut said he will not reshuffle his cabinet and will continue working transparently.
From left Democrat MPs — Anwar Saleh, Panich Vikitsreth, Sathit Wongnongtoey and Thepthai Senpong — tell the press that they were among the 17 party MPs who believe Deputy Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Thamanat Prompow did not really clarify allegations against him. However, all Democrat MPs cast a vote of confidence in line with the party stance. Panich Vikitsreth FB
The opposition bloc, with the exception of former MPs of the now-dissolved FFP, Seri Ruam Thai Party and some members of Pheu Thai Party, boycotted the vote yesterday after their request for a debate extension was rejected by Deputy House Speaker Supachai Phosu.
But most MPs of the disbanded FFP ignored the boycott and voted against Gen Prayut and the five other ministers, including Gen Prawit and Gen Anupong.
The four-day debate wrapped up on Thursday, with Gen Prayut being grilled each day until Thursday morning, leaving little or no time for the rest to be quizzed.
On Thursday evening, coalition whips flatly rejected the opposition whips' request to extend the debate into the night, reasoning it was the opposition's problem if it could not manage its time.
The opposition parties then resolved to walk out on the vote yesterday, though former FFP members insisted on exercising their right to vote, while the Seri Ruam Thai Party allowed its MPs to do as they pleased.
After the debate ended on Thursday evening, two former FFP MPs, who wanted to grill Gen Prawit and Gen Anupong but were not given the chance, took their debate notes outside to show reporters what they had prepared.
However, though they spoke their minds freely outside the House, they risk being sued as they were not covered by MP immunity.
Yuttaporn Issarachai, a political science lecturer, gave the opposition 7 and the coalition 5 or 6 out of 10 for their performances during the debate.