Heavy losses experienced by the People's Party (PP) in Sunday's municipality elections have exposed a potential decline in its popularity, political analysts say.
They said this should serve as a lesson for the party to learn from and better prepare for the general election.
On Sunday, polls were held across 2,463 municipalities nationwide: 33 Nakhon municipalities, 213 Muang municipalities, and 2,217 Tambon municipalities.
There are 4,558 mayoral candidates and 60,515 candidates for municipal council seats.
The polls elected 2,128 mayors and 33,346 municipal councillors to fill seats left vacant by those who completed their terms on March 27.
The polls received particular attention from the public with reports suggesting fierce competition in several key battleground areas between candidates from local political clans and those with the support of major parties such as the ruling Pheu Thai Party and the opposition PP.
Latest unofficial poll results show that candidates who formerly served as majors emerged as winners, such as former Chiang Mai mayor Assanee Buranupakorn from Pheu Thai, who defeated Thirawut Kaewfong from the PP.
Mr Assanee also had the backing of former PM Thaksin Shinawatra helping in the campaign.
In Nonthaburi's Nakhon Pak Kret municipality, the unofficial poll results show that Wichai Bandasak, a former mayor, defeated Passakorn Thitithanawanich from the PP.
In Nakhon Ratchasima, Wannarat Charnnukul emerged as municipal mayor-elect, defeating Yutthapong Supattarawanich, a PP candidate.
The PP fielded 15 mayoral candidates in Nakhon municipality elections nationwide, but they all suffered defeats in all battlegrounds.
Only five of its mayoral candidates won in Muang municipality elections, while nine of its mayoral candidates won in tambon municipality elections -- results that fell far below the party's expectations.
In Nakhon Pathom, unofficial results showed that Somchok Pongkwan from the Santi Tham group won the mayor election by 14,588 votes, beating Chatchawal Nanthasarn from the PP, who secured 13,462 with a difference of only 1,126 votes.
Wanwichit Boonprong, a political science expert at Rangsit University, told the Bangkok Post that the results of the municipality elections did not offer any hope for political change as old-school, conventional politics still reign in the provinces.
"Local political clans maintain their tight grip on local power. It's hard for new faces or alternative candidates to win," he said.
"All candidates from the PP failed in the Nakhon municipality elections. They just won in small tambon municipalities," he said.
"Many believe local politics does not lead to any significant change in national politics, so they think local elections are just a waste of time. The winners are still the same old faces."
Thanaporn Sriyakul, director of the Political and Public Policy Analysis Institute, said the PP filed 94 mayoral candidates, but only 13-14 won, or less than 15%.
"It would be a lie if we didn't say the party has failed. In the 2023 general election, the MFP, which is now reborn as the PP, came top, winning up to 14 million votes," he said.
"Now, the PP cannot make an excuse that the local polls are different from national polls. The PP should accept that there is a problem with its popularity."
Mr Thanaporn noted that other parties are also recruiting members from younger generations as part of their strategies to appeal to younger voters.
New-generation politicians are no longer limited only to the PP, he said.
He also said that successful political parties must be able to maintain popularity consistently in every election.
"They may not need to come top in every election, but they also cannot afford to fail completely in polls. Consistency is key for their success," Mr Thanaporn added.