Narapat Kaeothong, deputy leader of the Democrat Party, will resign as an MP to become the vice minister at the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, according to Jurin Laksanawisit, the party leader.
Mr Jurin, who is the commerce minister and a deputy prime minister, on Tuesday told reporters that Mr Narapat had informed him about the decision in advance. Mr Jurin said he did not oppose the decision.
Mr Narapat said he would tender his resignation to the party leader on Aug 19. He said he wanted to have more time helping the Democrat team gain public support in the North for upcoming elections.
As required by law, whoever takes the vice minister position must resign from being an MP. Mr Narapat is a party-list MP for the Democrat Party.
Mr Jurin said Mr Narapat's resignation will not affect the number of list-MP seats as his seat will be taken by another Democrat.
While Mr Narapat will remain a party member, at least three members will soon leave the party.
It is understood that Chaiyot Jiramethakorn, another party-list MP, will resign to take an advisory position. Mr Jurin said he has not yet met Mr Chaiyot to talk about the decision.
Supatcharee Thammaphet, a former MP for Phatthalung, also plans to resign from the party to join the Thai Sang Thai Party.
Anwar Salae, a Democrat MP for Pattani since 2005, will also resign but he has not confirmed which party he will join. Mr Anwar said although he still loved the party, people in Pattani told him to leave as they were not pleased with the work of the party executives.
He said he was approached by four parties including Prachachat, Pheu Thai, Sang Anakot Thai and Palang Pracharath to oversee the southern region.
"I have not decided which party I will join. One thing for sure is that I won't run for the Democrat Party in the next election," Mr Anwar said.