From: ssg9328@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Samart Srijumnong)
Subject: Thai Political Parties and Their Popularity: A Historical Glance
Keywords: Thai polity
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1992 05:29:26 GMT

	In the midst of frustration stemmed from the (expected) appointment
of Suchinda as the next prime minister of Thailand, I have come across an
article in Thammasart University Journal from which some of the information
might interest you, the s.c.t netters. I then decided to post it here. I hope
it could provide background information for the the Thai parliamentary system
relevant to the discussion which is going on in the s.c.t. Here it is:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Election Date       Total Seats 	Parties Elected >10% of Total Seats

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Feb 26, 1957           160			1. SereeManankhaSila	86
                                                2. Prachathipat		30

Dec 15, 1957           160			1. SahaPhoom  		44
                                                2. Prachathipat		39

Feb 20, 1969           219			1. SahaPrachaThai	76
                                                2. Prachathipat		57

Jan 26, 1975*          269			1. Prachathipat   	72
                                                2. DhammaSangkhom	45
                                                3. ChatThai             28

Apr  4, 1976**         279			1. Prachathipat        114
                                                2. ChatThai		56
                                                3. KitSangkhom		45
                                                4. ThammaSangkhom	28

Apr 22, 1979           301			1. KitSangkhom		82
                                                2. ChatThai		38
                                                3. Prachathipat		32
                                                4. PrachakornThai	32

Apr 18, 1983           324			1. KitSangkhom		92
                                                2. ChatThai		73
                                                3. Prachathipat		56
                                                4. PrachakornThai	36

Jul 27, 1986           347			1. Prachathipat        100
                                                2. ChatThai		63
                                                3. KitSangkhom		51
                                                4. SahaPrachathipatai	38

Jul 24, 1989           357			1. ChatThai  		87
                                                2. KitSangkhom		54
                                                3. Prachathipat		48

Mar 22, 1992           360		        1. SammakhiTham		79
                                                2. ChatThai		74
                                                3. KwamwangMai		72
                                                4. Prachathipat		44
                                                5. PalangTham		41

           *  the first election after the students' uprising which overthrew
              the dictatorship of Thanom-Prapat regime
           ** the last election before the Event of October 6, 1976 where
              hundreds if not thousands of students were massacred at 
              Thammasat University while on peaceful protest. 

Notes:     Prachathipat   = Democratic Party
           KitSangkhom    = Social Action Party (SAP)
           PrachakornThai = Thai Populace Party 
           KwamwangMai    = New Aspiration Party (NAP)
           ChatThai       = Thai Nation Party 
           PalangTham     = Dhamma Power Party

Sources:   Data prior to March 22, 1992 election is from Adul Wichiancharoen,
           "RoiDangNaiRathaThipataiKhongThai" (Flaws in Thai parliamentary
           democracy), WarasarnThammasat (Thammasat U Journal), 16 (4):
           Dec 1989, pp.33-34; the rest is from "Final Election Results,"
	   posted in soc.culture.thai by trin@tla.dec.com on Mar 26, 1992.