An overview of 250 outgoing senators’ role during their 5-year term

The new senators are expected to be elected not later than June.

The next batch of senators, compared to the 250 outgoing Senate members, will have no role to play in the election of the PM, according to Sections 269 and 272 of the Constitution.

On August 22, Pheu Thai Party candidate Srettha Thavisin was elected Thailand’s new prime minister after receiving 482 out of 750 parliamentary votes in the lower and upper Houses, well above the required 376. His tally included 152 votes from the Senate.

In contrast, Pita Limjaroenrat, the PM candidate and then leader of the Move Forward Party on July 13 last year got 324 votes from parliamentarians, but only 13 from senators, while 159 others abstained. The Move Forward Party had won the most number of seats in the May 14 general election.

Senators opposed to Pita cited his intention to amend the lese majeste law, or Article 112 of the Penal Code, as the reason for not voting for him.

“Those who are a PM candidate, firstly, need to respect the nation, religion, and the monarch. If anyone possesses these qualities, the Senate will consider them,” said Senator Kittisak Rattanawaraha before Pita was rejected.

In 2019, this Senate also voted in favour of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha when he was vying for the top job against Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit – the leader of the dissolved Future Forward Party (Move Forward’s predecessor).

Prayut, who staged the coup in 2014, got 499 out of 500 votes, with one abstention. No vote from the Senate was handed to his competitor.

Fate of bills

Between May 22, 2019 and April 2024, the 250 senators spent a total of 1,579 hours and 55 minutes in parliamentary meetings, Senate president Pornpetch Wichitcholchai said during their last meeting in April.

He explained that as many as 53 bills and 14 emergency decrees were approved by the upper House during the five years. A bills needs to be approved by 84 senators to be enacted.

However, when it comes to a constitutional amendment, only a single bill out of 20 got the green light.

Unlike the approved draft which concerns a change in the election system, most of the 19 bills that were rejected aimed to revoke or alter Section 272 of the Constitution which allowed senators to elect the PM.

Over 500 interpellations

Pornpetch said that as many as 588 interpellations were directed towards the government during the Senate’s term.

Of those, 167 were verbal interpellations to ministers during a Parliamentary session. However, only 59 were answered by the government, he said.

The 250 senators also interpellated in writing 721 times on other matters, with 548 getting responses.

Over their past year term, the Senate once organised the general debate under Article 153 against the Srettha administration. During their four years under the Prayut regime, no such action was taken.

Outspoken Senator Seri Suwanphanon said during the debate that the Pheu Thai-led government had failed to tackle the problems of the people, like loan sharks, as promised and hit out at the proposed 10,000 baht per head digital wallet scheme.

Independent agencies

Pornpetch revealed that 24 people were given positions in seven independent entities.

They include seven in the Constitutional Court, six in the Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, five in the National Human Rights Commission, two in the Election Commission, two in the Ombudsman's Office, one in the State Audit Commission, and one as the director of the Auditor-General’s Office.

The Constitution stipulates that those selected to be in independent agencies must receive approval from not less than half of the existing Senate members.

New senators coming

Prime Minister Srettha in April announced that Senate candidacy registration date will be announced on May 13.

Those running for the office need to be over 40 years of age. The new batch comprises 200 people.

As per the Constitution, applicants will vote among themselves over six rounds, in three stages — district, provincial and national — to eventually select 10 senators from each of the 20 eligible professional groups, with a reserve list of five candidates for each group.

The previous batch was selected by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), which was created after the 2014 coup and led by Prayut.

Six seats were automatically reserved for military chiefs, while 194 were picked by a committee set up by the NCPO.

The remaining 50 were chosen by the Election Commission among professionals in various sectors of work and sent to the NCPO for approval.