In late December, a prominent young member of the United Thai Nation Party, Shinapat Kitlertsirivatana, sent in a fiery resignation letter to the party. “The United Thai Nation Party cannot change this country if it will not change its internal working processes,” he declared. “I’m clear that the monarchy must remain. But conservatives need to stand for more than just protecting the monarchy and prohibiting amendment of section 112.” 

Shinapat’s resignation did not cause much of a storm outside his own party; he had only been a deputy spokesperson. Curiously, however, his criticism seems to have resonated with the wider political scene, even if not as a direct result of what he said.

Not long after Shinapat’s resignation, the UTN’s spokesperson insisted that the party is a “conservative party in a new era.” In April, the Palang Pracharath Party’s Prawit Wongsuwan announced that they would be rebranding to a “modern conservative party.” Even the Thai Sang Thai Party, which had stood by the doomed Move Forward-led coalition until the bitter end, told members to stand by “progressive conservative principles.”

There’s no use in going into a Thomas Edison versus Nikola Tesla battle about who came first with this “new conservatism” label. There are other couple questions worth asking, however. What is this new flavor of conservatism that the parties speak of? Why are so many parties positioning themselves this way? The fact that all these parties have their antennae sensing gold at this new branding suggests something is afoot. And will it work on the electorate?

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