PPRP SecGen Thamanat To Quit Amid Rift With Party Leader Prawit, Presser Due Shortly

Caretaker Agriculture Minister Thamanat Prompow is due to hold a press conference shortly (was originally scheduled for 08:00BST/14:00ICT, then pushed back due to change of location), during which he is expected to confirm his split from the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) which used to rule the country prior to last year's parliamentary election.

• Reports of a split within the PPRP have been doing the rounds for some time amid a deepening row between party leader Prawit Wongsuwan and secretary general Thamanat Prompow.
• Local media outlets suggested that the current ruling Pheu Thai Party's (PTP's) political patron Thaksin Shinawatra has been trying to encourage Thamanat to rebel against Prawit, whose faction could be left out of the coalition.
• Following the appointment of PTP leader and Thaksin's daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra as the new Prime Minister, Prawit refused to include Thamanat on the list of the PPRP's candidates for ministers in the new cabinet.
• Thamanat earlier today threatened to quit the PPRP and sever all ties with Prawit but refused to offer clarity on which party he could potentially defect to. There is speculation he could join the Kla Tham Party alongside 18-20 PPRP MPs.
• Thamanat spent four years in an Australian prison, but the Thai National Anti‑Corruption Commission (NACC) said this would not disqualify him from holding public office as the sentence was handed down by a foreign court.
• The departure of Thamanat and potentially around half of the party's 40 MPs would significantly weaken the position of Prawit Wongsuwan, despite recent speculation around his prime ministerial ambitions.