Two deputy leaders of Palang Pracharath have left the party, Uttama Savanayana and Sonthirat Sontijirawong.
PPRP leader Gen Prawit Wongsuwon on Tuesday afternoon confirmed that Mr Uttama and Mr Sonthirat had left the party. Both had told him they were going into business.
They left on good terms and had no plans to move to any other political party, the PPRP leader said.
Gen Prawit, a list MP, declined to answer a reporter’s question whether anyone would defect to his party.
Asked about a remark by PPRP deputy leader Chaimongkol Chairop, a Sakhon Nakhon MP, that someone had phoned Gen Prawit and invited him to join the coalition government, the party leader declined to comment.
PPRP secretary-general Paiboon Nititawan also said Mr Uttama and Mr Sonthirat had met Gen Prawit to bid farewell because they wanted to run their own businesses. He said the two men had submitted their resignation letters to the Election Commission about 10am on Tuesday.
However, It was widely speculated that the main reason for the two key party figures' departure was political uncertainty and concern about the party’s future direction.
Mr Uttama, a former PPRP leader, and Mr Sonthirat, a former party secretary-general, led the party's campaign in the 2019 general election. Mr Uttama served as the finance minister and Mr Sonthirat took the energy minister's portfolio in then-prime minister Gen Prayut Chan-ocha’s cabinet.
The both later left the party, but rejoined it on Jan 30, 2023.
Last month, Gen Prawit insisted the PPRP would not join the government coalition, while also dismissing rumours of its MPs defecting to the coalition Kla Dharma Party.
Thamanat Prompow, chief adviser to the coalition Kla Dharma Party, earlier hinted at welcoming more opposition MPs into the party.