Thamanat Prompow has stepped down as secretary-general of the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) and five other members of his group have quit as party executives as their estrangement from the party deepens.
Thamanat said on Thursday that he had informed the party of his decision to quit. The resignations of the executives have been reported to the Election Commission.
The move came ahead of a party board meeting to be chaired by leader Gen Prawit Wongsuwon on Friday.
Thamanat and his colleagues have not relinquished their PPRP memberships to avoid losing their MP seats.
Thamanat admits he is looking into legal avenues through which he and his allies can leave Palang Pracharath with their MP status intact. The custom has been for a party to expel an MP so that they can keep their seat as long as they can find another party to join.
All told, the influential political fixer from Phayao is said to have 20 of the party’s 40 MPs on his side. The other bloc retains close ties with Gen Prawit.
Thamanat tried once before to assert himself in Palang Pracharath, by working to undermine support for Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha in 2021. He lost that round, along with his cabinet seat. He left the party but later returned, swearing loyalty to Gen Prawit.
Thamanat said on Thursday that he had lost faith in the party. He said its recent ministerial nominations were drawn up and sent to the ruling Pheu Thai Party without his knowledge.
Three members from the Thamanat faction, including his brother, are in the new cabinet of Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra. The rest of the Palang Pracharath MPs are in the opposition.
The Thamanat group was spotted sitting in the Pheu Thai seating area in the House of Representatives during this week’s debate on the 2025 budget bill. The Prawit group stayed put in the PPRP seating area.
The Pheu Thai Party announced last week that it had decided to drop the PPRP from the coalition. More specifically, it was looking to purge all those loyal to Gen Prawit, who has been suspected of manoeuvring against Pheu Thai.
Many in Pheu Thai suspect that the 78-year-old former army chief was behind the ethics complaint, filed by 40 former senators, that ended the prime ministership of Srettha Thavisin.
Apart from Thamanat, the five people who exited the PPRP executive board are Narathiwat MP Sampan Mayusoh, Atthakorn Sirilatthayakorn (Chachoengsao), Boonying Nitikanchana (Ratchaburi), Phai Lik (Kamphaeng Phet) and Boonsing Warinrak.
Palang Pracharath is scheduled to meet on Friday morning to elect its new board, reduced from 19 to 13 members. Deputy leader Paiboon Nititawan is expected to replace Thamanat as secretary-general.