Thai Rak Thai Party
In December 2001, the National Development Party, which had been the largest opposition party, joined the coalition government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin dropped the party from the coalition in November 2003. Therefore, several politicians left the National Development Party to join Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai Party Thaksin exerted further pressure and before the 2005 election, the party had merged into the Thai Rak Thai Party.