Thai Sang Thai MPs defy party line again with expected impunity

Five MPs from the opposition party Thai Sang Thai defied party ranks on Wednesday by casting a vote of confidence for Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, enraging the party's founder and leader, Sudarat Keyuraphan.

After learning the results of the no-confidence vote, which revealed that five out of six Thai Sang Thai MPs supported the prime minister, Sudarat took to Facebook to express her outrage. She accused the MPs of betraying the people and declared that they must eventually face consequences.

Referring to them as “cobra MPs,” a term derived from an Aesopian fable about a cobra biting the hand that fed it, Sudarat wrote:

“The cobra MPs have been dishonest to the people who elected them and have betrayed the party that nurtured them and gave them the opportunity to serve in Parliament.

“They acted without ethics, prioritising personal gain over public interest. They have undermined the democratic system and must face punishment from both the people and the judicial process for their severe ethical violations.”

The five MPs in question were:

• Thakorn Tanthasit (Party-list)
• Rampoon Tantiwanitchayanon (Ubon Ratchathani)
• Supaporn Salabsri (Yasothon)
• Rung Thurapol (Udon Thani)
• Adisak Kaewmoongkhunsup (Udon Thani)

Sudarat did not specify how she intended to seek legal action against them.

However, this was not the first time Thai Sang Thai MPs had broken party ranks. When Paetongtarn was elected as prime minister in Parliament, all six Thai Sang Thai MPs voted in her favour. At the time, Sudarat protested and threatened to expel them but was ultimately powerless to act, as the "rebel MPs" actually controlled the party’s executive board majority.