Thailand’s new senators have elected their president and his deputies amid whispers of backroom deals and political machinations, setting the stage for a drama-filled five-year term.
Two days before the new Upper House convened for the first time on July 23, numerous senators linked with the coalition’s second-largest party, Bhumjaithai, met at a Bangkok hotel to discuss arrangements over the three top posts.
Labelled “blue senators” after Bhumjaithai’s colour – this group is believed to comprise 120-130 lawmakers from the 200-member Upper House.
They reportedly boast about 30 allies who call themselves “independent senators” but are also thought to have political connections.
The meeting reportedly saw the “blue senators” agree to nominate former Buri Ram governor Mongkol Surasajja as Senate president, former deputy Army chief General Kriangkrai Srirak as the first vice-president, and former election commissioner Boonsong Noisophon as second vice-president.
According to the Constitution, the Senate is meant to function as an impartial body of experts who act as a check and balance against the power of the elected Lower House by delaying or amending bills.
Dominance of ‘blue senators’
At the maiden Senate assembly, the trio took turns in nominating one another. Kriangkrai proposed Mongkol for Senate president, Boonsong nominated Kriangkrai for first vice-president and Mongkol put forward Boonsong for the post of second vice-president.
Their rivals came from a much smaller group, dubbed “orange senators” by the media for their reported links with the core opposition party, Move Forward.
All three “blue” candidates won by overwhelming majorities, with 72-year-old Mongkol bagging 159 votes from the 200 senators. His closest competitor, with just 19 votes, was Nantana Nantavaropas, former dean of Krirk University’s Political Communication College. Political veteran Premsak Piayura came third with 13 votes.
Sixty-one-year-old Kriangkrai obtained 150 votes, beating his three competitors who scored 47 votes combined. Boonsong, 76, won 167 votes to crush his three rivals, who attracted a combined total of 30.
The three election winners received a royal endorsement on July 26. The Senate chief also serves as ex-officio vice president of Parliament; the speaker of the House of Representatives is the president.
Mongkol denied rumours that he was connected with a political party, but conceded it was “perhaps impossible” to find any senator without friends or acquaintances in politics.
Communist leanings
Born on August 9, 1952, in Saraburi province, Mongkol earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Ramkhamhaeng University.
After the October 1973 protest ousted a military junta and a subsequent uprising three years later triggered a crackdown that killed scores of students, Mongkol was among thousands of young activists who joined the Communist Party of Thailand in its struggle against the state.
His band of armed guerrillas was based in the Phu Banthad forests that sprawl across the southern provinces of Trang, Satun and Phatthalung. An amnesty issued in 1980 saw Mongkol return and resume his university studies.
After graduating, he joined the Interior Ministry and was appointed district officer in Nong Khai province in the Northeast.
In 1989, he became a district officer in Pathum Thani before being promoted to chief of Lop Buri’s Nong Muang district. He later became deputy governor of Buri Ram and Si Sa Ket provinces.
In 2008, Mongkol rose to the post of governor of Buri Ram, establishing a connection with the province’s political “godfather” Newin Chidchob, patriarch of the Bhumjaithai Party.
When Bhumjaithai was handed control of the Interior Ministry, Mongkol was promoted to director general of the Community Development Department, and later of the Department of Provincial Administration (DOPA).
In 2010, he was nominated for the post of Interior permanent secretary – the ministry’s top bureaucrat. However, he withdrew from the running after a corruption scandal involving DOPA’s 3.5-billion-baht computer leasing project.
Mongkol’s final position before he retired in 2012 was as DOPA director-general. After retiring, he went into farming, setting up an orchard in Buri Ram’s Prakhon Chai district.
Anutin’s former chief adviser
General Kriangkrai was born on March 25, 1963, in the southern province of Surat Thani. Like most other Army commanders, he graduated from Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School and the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy.
He spent most of his military career in the Fourth Army Area covering the South. Kriangkrai became Fourth Army commander in October 2020 before being appointed assistant commander-in-chief of the Army in 2022. He retired from service at the end of September last year.
After retiring, Kriangkrai was appointed as chief adviser to Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul in December last year. Anutin leads the Bhumjaithai Party and currently holds the post of deputy prime minister.
Ex-judge, election commissioner
Born on August 7, 1948, Boonsong earned a bachelor’s degree in law from Chulalongkorn University before passing his bar exam.
He began his career in the Royal Thai Air Force before moving to the Office of the Attorney-General, the Court of Justice, and the Election Commission.
Among his important positions were chief justice of Samut Prakan Provincial Court, Supreme Court judge, president of the Appeal Court’s Region 7, and election commissioner – a post he held from December 2013 until August 2018.
By Thai PBS World’s Political Desk//Photo: New leadership of the Senate
