(KPL/VNA) The Bhumjaithai Party is on track to win the most seats in Thailand’s general election, according to preliminary results released by the Election Commission of Thailand on February 9.

With 94% of votes counted so far, the Bhumjaithai Party had secured 193 seats, while the People’s Party and the Pheu Thai Party ranked second and third, respectively, with 118 and 74 seats.

Nearly 53 million Thai voters cast their ballots in the general election to choose 500 members of the House of Representatives to form a new parliament and government, following the premature dissolution of the House on December 12, 2025.

Voting began at 8:00 on February 8 at polling stations across Thailand and closed at 17:00 the same day. Simultaneously with the election, Thailand also held a referendum on drafting a new Constitution to replace the 2017 Constitution.

Regarding the referendum results, a majority of Thai voters (58%) voted in favour of amending the Constitution, 30% voted against, 9% abstained, and 3% were yet to be included in the vote count.

Speaking after the release of the preliminary results, the leadership of the Bhumjaithai Party and Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul expressed their gratitude to voters, stating that although the official results were not yet available, they were confident of victory in the election. Anutin said they would wait for the official results from the Election Commission before proceeding with the next steps.

Meanwhile, Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, leader of the People’s Party, which came first in the 2023 election, declared his acceptance of defeat even before the official results were announced. He affirmed his respect for parliamentary procedures, including accepting that the leading party would form a government, and expressed his readiness to serve as the opposition in the House of Representatives.

For his part, Julapun Amornvivat, leader of the Pheu Thai Party, thanked voters, affirmed his respect for their voices even before the final vote count, and said he would continue to do his best to work for the people.

The Election Commission of Thailand is scheduled to continue finalising the vote count and related procedures before officially certifying the election results within 60 days. Within the following 15 days, the newly elected House of Representatives will hold its first session to elect the Speaker of the House, who also serves as Speaker of Parliament, before proceeding to elect the Prime Minister, expected to take place in late April or early May. The new government is expected to be formed in May.

KPL