Padipat Suntiphada (, ; born 15 October 1981) is a Thai veterinarian and politician who served as the First Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of Thailand and Member of Parliament for Phitsanulok's 1st district from 2023 to 2024. On the 7 August 2024 Padipat was banned from politics along with other politicians after a ruling from the Constitutional Court of Thailand

Education

Padipat received a

Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine The Bachelor of Veterinary Science (BVSc or BVSC; Latin Baccalaureus Veterinariae Scientiae), "Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine" (BVetMed), or "Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery" ("BVM&S" or "BVMS") is a degree for studies in veterinary me ...

from

Chulalongkorn University Chulalongkorn University (CU; ; , ) is a public university, public Autonomous university, autonomous research university in Bangkok, Thailand. The university was originally founded during King Chulalongkorn's reign as a school for training ro ...

and a

Master of Theological Studies The Master of Arts (MA) in a religious discipline is a graduate degree, offered in seminary or other graduate school, which gives students a basic understanding in theological disciplines. It is often pursued by individuals interested in academi ...

from

Trinity Theological College, Singapore Trinity Theological College (TTC), Singapore, was founded in 1948 as a union college between Anglicans, Methodists, and Presbyterians for theological training. The Lutherans joined the union in 1963. Academic programmes are offered in both Englis ...

. He did not want to be a veterinarian or open a clinic after graduation. As a result, he did not register with the Veterinary Council per the requirement for being a veterinarian in Thailand. He worked as a technical sales representative of a veterinarian product group instead.

Political career

Padipat was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2019 under the

Future Forward Party The Future Forward Party (FFP; , ; otherwise known as 'New Future Party') was a social democratic and progressive List of political parties in Thailand, Thai political party from March 2018 to February 2020. The party was founded on 14 March 20 ...

. He moved to the

Move Forward Party The Move Forward Party (MFP; , ) was a major social democratic and progressive political party in Thailand. It was the second incarnation of the progressive Future Forward Party, which was founded in 2018 and dissolved by the Constitutional C ...

after Future Forward was disbanded and was elected as a member of its executive board. He was the second deputy chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Political Development, Mass Communications, and Public Participation. He kept his seat in the 2023 election and was later elected First Deputy Speaker at the beginning of the first House session. He resigned from his party executive position to comply with the requirements that Speaker and Deputies must be impartial. Padipat worked at the Thai Christian Students Association from 2005 to 2018. His belief as a devout Christian made him abstain from voting on a Marriage Equality Bill that was proposed by his party in 2022. After being elected Deputy Speaker, he said that he will vote for the bill and will not impede its parliamentary process.

Revocation of Move Forward Party membership

On 28 September 2023, during a meeting between a Padipat and the party executive committee, Padipat expressed his intention to continue in his role as the deputy speaker. This conflicted with the party's intention to serve as leader of the opposition. Therefore, the Move Forward party's executive committee took the decision to revoke Padipat's membership. Under Section 106 of the Thai constitution, the

opposition leader The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

is appointed from the largest

opposition party In politics, the opposition comprises one or more political parties or other organized groups that are opposed to the government (or, in American English, the administration), party or group in political control of a city, region, state, coun ...

where its party leader is a serving MP. The constitution defines an opposition party as a party that does not sit in

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

. However, the 2019 Thai constitution is the first one to add the speakership and deputy speakership as disqualifying conditions for a party to be able to hold the opposition leadership separate from the nominal definition of an opposition party. Padipat will have thirty days to join a new party lest he forfeits his position as deputy speaker and MP. The

Thai Sang Thai Party The Thai Sang Thai Party (; ) is a Thai political party founded in 2021 by people formerly from the Pheu Thai Party led by Sudarat Keyuraphan. History The Thai Sang Thai Party was registered with registration number 3/2564 on 23 March 2021, wit ...

and the Fair Party have expressed interests in welcoming Padipat. After the decision to revoke Padipat's membership was announced through Move Forward's official channels, various government MPs came out to criticise the decision as being political theatre and an attempt to cling on to power. The government chief whip, Adisorn Piangkes, posted a poem critical of Padipat on his personal Twitter account. He also announced that Pheu Thai will file a complaint to the election commission on the question of whether Move Forward's party executive committee violated the party regulation on the conditions in which membership can be rescinded. On 10 October Padipat announced his intention to join the Fair Party, accompanied by the party's leader and secretary-general. He said that he will have to wait for official confirmation of the nullification of his Move Forward party membership from the Election Commission before he can formally begin the process of joining the Fair Party.

2024 politics ban

In 2024, the

Constitutional Court of Thailand The Constitutional Court (, , ), officially the Constitutional Court of the Kingdom of Thailand, is a Thai court created by the 1997 constitution with jurisdiction over the constitutionality of parliamentary acts, royal decrees, draft legisl ...

ordered the dissolution of the

on the grounds that its advocacy for reforms of Thailand's lèse-majesté laws constituted an attempt to overthrow the constitutional monarchy. Part of the dissolution ruling included a 10-year ban of party executives from politics. While no longer a part of the party, this included Padipat as he had been a party executive during the period covered by the ruling.

Honours

Padipat has received the following royal decorations in the

Honours System An order is a visible honour awarded by a sovereign state, monarch, dynastic house or organisation to a person, typically in recognition of individual merit, that often comes with distinctive insignia such as collars, medals, badges, and sash ...

of Thailand: * 2020 - 80px Knight Commander (2nd Class) of the Most Noble

Order of the Crown of Thailand The Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand (; ) is a Thai order, established in 1869 by King Rama V of The Kingdom of Siam (now Thailand) for Thais, the royal family, governmental employees, and foreign dignitaries for their outstanding serv ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suntiphada, Padipat

Padipat Suntiphada Padipat Suntiphada (, ; born 15 October 1981) is a Thai veterinarian and politician who served as the First Speaker of the House of Representatives of Thailand, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of Thailand and Member of Parliament f ...

1981 births Living people