Thailands liberal opposition tops polls as election looms

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Peoples Party leader and prime ministerial candidate Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut speaks during a general election campaign rally ahead of Thailands general election, in Bangkok, Thailand, January 11, 2026. REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa

BANGKOK, Jan 12 - Thailands progressive opposition Peoples Party and its leader are most favoured among voters for next months general election, two surveys showed, underlining the stiff challenge facing Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakuls bid to stay in power.

Thailands February 8 election could usher in a new round of turmoil in Thailand, and will be a showdown between the anti-establishment Peoples Party, Anutins conservative Bhumjaithai and the former ruling party Pheu Thai, with bitter histories of betrayal that could complicate efforts to form a government.

The Peoples Party was backed by 34.2% of respondents in a January 6-9 poll by Suan Dusit released on Sunday, with Bhumjaithai second on 16.2% and the once-dominant Pheu Thai on 16.0%.

Peoples Party head and opposition leader Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut was the top choice for prime minister among 32% of the 2,682 people surveyed, followed by Pheu Thais Yodchanan Wongsawat on 17.4% and Anutin third on 15.1%.

With huge support among young and urban Thais for its bold reform agenda, the Peoples Partys predecessor Move Forward won the most votes in the 2023 election but was blocked from power by lawmakers allied with the royalist military.

Move Forward was later dissolved by a court, one of a series of dramatic twists in an unrelenting cycle of upheaval that has seen three Thai premiers in less than three years.