The Chart Pattana Party (, ) is a populist political party in Thailand. In the

2007 Thai general election General elections were held in Thailand on 23 December 2007. They were the first elections after the Council for National Security, a military junta, had overthrown Thailand's elected government and abrogated the constitution on 19 September 200 ...

, the advisory chairman of the party was

Wannarat Channukul Wannarat Channukul (, ; born 8 March 1949 in Nakhon Ratchasima) is a Thai physician and politician. He is the leader of the Chart Pattana Puea Pandin Party. From 2008 to 2011, he was Minister of Energy in the cabinet of Abhisit Vejjajiva. and fr ...

. His brother-in-law, the party's chairman

Suwat Liptapanlop Suwat Liptapanlop (, , ; born 9 February 1955 in Ratchaburi Province) is a Thai entrepreneur, politician and sports official based in Nakhon Ratchasima. He has held different cabinet posts in several governments since 1988, including deputy prime ...

, is however considered its ''de facto'' leader. The party tends to have most of its vote share focused in Nakhon Ratchasima province.

History

It was founded under the name of () as a merger of

Thais United Thais United (, ''Ruam Jai Thai''; also translated as United Thai Heart, Thai Unity and United Hearts Thai) was a political party in Thailand founded on 26 June 2007. Its members included many well-known politicians, among them former deputy prime ...

and the former National Development Party in September 2007. In the

, the party received enough votes to gain eight out of 480 seats in the

House of Representatives of Thailand The House of Representatives (, , ) is the lower house of the National Assembly of Thailand, the legislative branch of the Thai government. The system of government of Thailand is that of a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democrac ...

. After 2008, the party was a member of the six-party

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

led by the Democrat Party's leader,

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Abhisit Vejjajiva Abhisit Vejjajiva (; , , ; born 3 August 1964) is a Thai politician who was the 27th prime minister of Thailand from 2008 to 2011. He was the leader of the Democrat Party from 2005 until he resigned following the party's weak performance in t ...

. The party's leader Wannarat Channukul was Minister of Energy in Abhisit's cabinet. The party name was shortened to ''Ruam Chart Pattana''. In 2011, the Ruam Chart Pattana Party merged with the Puea Pandin Party and changed its name to ''Chart Pattana Puea Pandin''. In the election on 3 July 2011, the party won 7 of the 500 seats in the House of Representatives, five constituency-based and two on the party list. Four of its constituencies were in

Nakhon Ratchasima Nakhon Ratchasima (, ) is the capital of Nakhon Ratchasima province, the largest city in Isan, Northeastern Thailand and the List of municipalities in Thailand#Largest cities by urban population, third-largest city in Thailand. It is 250 km (1 ...

, the party's stronghold and home province of its leaders. After the elections and

Pheu Thai Party The Pheu Thai Party (PT or PTP; , ) is a major conservative populist list of political parties in Thailand, political party in Thailand. It is the third incarnation of the Thai Rak Thai Party, a political party founded by former Prime Minister ...

's victory, the party agreed with Pheu Thai and three other minor parties to form a coalition government under the leadership of

Yingluck Shinawatra Yingluck Shinawatra (, , ; born 21 June 1967) is a Thai businesswoman, politician and a member of the Pheu Thai Party who was the 28th prime minister of Thailand from 2011 to 2014. Yingluck was Thailand's first female prime minister and its yo ...

. Later in 2011, the party name was again simplified to its current version. Thai tennis player

Paradorn Srichaphan Paradorn Srichaphan (; ; ; born 14 June 1979) is a Thai former professional tennis player. Srichaphan was the first player from Asia to be ranked in the world's top 10 of men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), reaching ...

and taekwando athlete

Yaowapa Boorapolchai Yaowapa Boorapolchai (; ; born September 6, 1984, at Bangkok) is a Thai taekwondo athlete who was the bronze medalist in the women's under 49 kg event at the 2004 Summer Olympics. She graduated Bachelor of Arts historical major from Thammas ...

joined the Chart Pattana Party to run in the 2011 elections. Sophon Kaosoo, 50, a Chart Pattana Party candidate, was killed while campaigning in the local council elections, due to take place on 2 March 2014. Police believe that the assassination was most likely politically motivated. Later, at the 2/2022 Extraordinary Annual General Meeting on Monday, 26 September 2022 in Nakhon Ratchasima Province, the meeting resolved to change the party regulations and the name of the party to the Chart Pattana Kla Party. At the same time, there was also a resolution to elect

Korn Chatikavanij Korn Chatikavanij (, , born 19 February 1964 in London) is a Thai politician. He was formerly the leader of the Chart Pattana Kla Party and the Kla Party. He was a deputy leader of the Democrat Party. A five-term MP, he served from 2008 to 201 ...

, former leader of Kla Party, to be a member of the party's executive committee. The party won only two seats in the 2023 general election. Korn announced on 25 June 2023 that he had resigned his leadership position. The party will elect a new leader and executive committee in early August 2023. On 25 April 2024, the Chart Pattana Kla Party held the 2024 Annual General Meeting to elect the Party Executive Committee for 2 vacant deputy party leader positions. The meeting resolved to elect Wutthipong Thonglao, Prachinburi MP. and Aran Phanthumchinda, former deputy secretary-general of the party is the deputy leader of the party Along with the amendment of the party regulations, the party name was changed back to Chart Pattana Party Including changing the party logo.

General election results

Notes

References

{{Thai political parties Political parties in Thailand Centrist parties in Thailand Political parties established in 2007