Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit

Piyabutr Saengkanokkul is the second former leader of the banned Future Forward Party to be charged under Section 112 of the Criminal Code.

The head of the disbanded Future Forward Party criticized the government for contracting a royal-owned firm to supply COVID-19 vaccines.

Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit had criticized a COVID-19 vaccine procurement deal involving a company owned by the Thai king.

The results of the recent provincial elections hint at the possibility that some of demands of Thai protesters may be a hard sell outside big cities.

"It’s not a matter of whether or not the existing power structures start to give way: it’s just a question of when."

The dissolution of the progressive Future Forward Party helped spur the current protests. Now media reports say party leaders face new charges.

The commission announced Wednesday that Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, leader of the now-defunct Future Forward Party, had knowingly violated the law when he ran for office without divesting himself of a mass media company by a legal deadline.

Though the dissolution of a major political party may feel like a final act, it has in fact left the party and the wider pro-democracy movement in limbo in the country’s politics.

The outlook for the year looks quite dim for the country due to a string of external and internal developments.

Thanathorn’s removal foreshadows a sinister dismantling of opposition using a façade of checks and balances.

Thanathorn of the Future Forward Party has long been a thorn in the side of Thailand’s royalist-military ruling class.