Puea Pandin Party พรรคเพื่อแผ่นดิน For Country' Party | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Pramuan Ampia |
| Secretary-General | Yutsaphon Sutham |
| Founded | 2 October 2007 |
| Dissolved | 13 March 2023 |
| Split from | Thai Rak Thai Party |
| Merged into | Chart Pattana Puea Pandin Party |
| Headquarters | Don Mueang,Bangkok, Thailand |
| Ideology | Thai nationalism[1] |
| Website | |
| http://www.ppd.or.th/ | |
Puea Pandin Party (Thai:พรรคเพื่อแผ่นดิน) was a Thaipolitical party founded on 11 September 2007 by more than 200 politicians. Its most notable members included Thaksin's former foreign ministerSurakiart Sathirathai,Suranand Vejjajiva andPreecha Laohaphongchana.[2]
Puea Pandin presented itself as a compromise party, a neutral and moderate alternative to the two main rivals, theDemocrat Party and thePeople's Power Party (PPP). It included both former allies and opponents of deposed prime ministerThaksin Shinawatra and his outlawedThai Rak Thai Party (TRT).[3]Suwit Khunkitti andWatchara Punnachet were elected party leader and party secretary general respectively. The party appointedVatana Asavahame as the party chairman, and Police GeneralPracha Promnok as party chief adviser. GeneralPallop Pinmanee, adviser to the Internal Security Command Operation, accepted to become adviser to the party, overseeing security.[4]
At the party's first caucus, Puea Pandin leader Suwit Khunkitti vowed to win more than 60 seats in Parliament and promised to implement nine policies to improve the state of the Thai economy.[4] By 28 October 2007, the party had formed its finance and tourism team in the form of the party's Academic Council, chaired by former Deputy Prime Minister,Surakiart Sathirathai. Members included former Governor of the Bank of ThailandVijit Supinich, former Secretary to the Ministry of FinanceSupachai Pisitvanit, former Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture and CooperativesBunpod Hongthong and Finance specialistsVichien Techapaiboon andNithit Pukkanasud. AlthoughSurakiart Sathirathai was one of 111 TRT executives banned from politics for five years, he said that the party's Academic Council only provides policy guidelines and is not part of the political party. The tourism team was led by former Tourism Authority of Thailand GovernorJuthamas Siriwan and former senatorsSuradej Yasawat andJirayu Vasurut. All three were also deputy party leaders. Their main policy was to make Thailand a hub for tourism with expected earnings of 1.33 trillion baht in 2011.
Three days before the2007 general election, deputy party leader Juthamas Siriwan resigned from the party amidst a bribery scandal stemming from her tenure as governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand and president of theBangkok International Film Festival.[5]
In the election, the party won 24 seats in parliament: seven party-list candidates and 17 constituency candidates. Most of them were elected in districts in the Northeastern Region (Isan), especially in the provinces ofNakhon Ratchasima andSurin. The party became a junior partner in the government coalition led bySamak Sundaravej and his PPP. Its representation increased to 32 seats after the Constitutional Court dissolved the PPP in the2008 political crisis and its members defected to other parties. Puea Pandin then changed its allegiance and helped to electAbhisit Vejjajiva of the Democrat Party prime minister.
Many Puea Pandin's members of parliament defected to other parties ahead of theelection in 2011, hoping to increase their chances of being re-elected. By the end of the 2007-2011 term, 12 of the 32 Puea Pandin MPs had joined theBhumjaithai Party, three had defected toPheu Thai, two to theDemocrats, two toChartthaipattana, and one each toMatubhum and Tankun Pandin. The remaining nine representatives joined forces with theirChart Pattana Party colleagues, running under the newChart Pattana Puea Pandin Party and winning 7 of 500 seats.
After conflicts between the two parties, Puea Pandin returned to contest the 2014 general election on its own, but the election was declared invalid by theConstitutional Court. In the following 2019 general election, the party failed to gain seats.[6]
On 13 March 2023 theElection Commission of Thailand approved the dissolution of the party.[7]
