Chiang Mai, Thailand – Last month’s historic election in Thailand saw the progressive Move Forward Party claim the most seats in parliament and looks set to usher in a new generation of young politicians – assuming the conservative establishment accepts the results.
A number of hurdles remain for Move Forward to form a government with its main coalition partner, the populist pro-democracy party Pheu Thai.
But the results alone show a radical shift in the country’s political landscape, with voters now demanding a total overhaul of the political system, which has for years been dominated by the military and monarchy.
The northern Chiang Mai province is a case in point.
Traditionally a Pheu Thai stronghold, Move Forward took seven out of 10 seats this year, campaigning on a platform of deeper reforms. The results also show a generational turnover and increased gender diversity. Seven of the 10 candidates elected – including five women – are in their 30s.
Ruengrawee Pichaikul, director of the Gender and Development Research Institute, says 96 women were elected this year, representing 19 percent of the seats in the lower house of parliament, slightly more than in the 2019 election.
She notes Move Forward led the pack with 36 women elected, while Pheu Thai was close behind with 29.
“It’s a new generation, a new paradigm shift,” Ruengrawee said, adding that the more Thailand democratises, the more women will get involved in politics. “If there is a more open society women will have more chances. Compared to military rule this is very, very different. In the [military-appointed] Senate, only 6 percent are women.”
She says women still face several challenges in politics, including “sexual violence”, giving an example of a male candidate photoshopping a female rival’s photo onto a nude model to “damage and discredit her popularity”.
“Most of them get bullied through social media, like Facebook,” she added. “Last election was even worse. Parties used women as a sex object, only nominated candidates that are beautiful and talk about her physical appearance more than her brain or the issues she’s fighting for.”
Ruengrawee says she has been especially pleased to see that young men from Move Forward had made gender equality a key talking point.
“We believe in the new generation of voters. I think it’s going to be better, unless there is some kind of regime change,” she said.
Such an outcome, of course, cannot be ruled out.
The last democratically elected government – a Pheu Thai administration – was overthrown in a coup in 2014, ushering in nine years of military-backed rule.
Here are three women who will be taking their seats in the Thai parliament when it convenes in the next few weeks.
Phuthita Chaianun, Move Forward Party
Puthita Chaianun says she decided to become a politician to “make a better society” for her children [Andrew Nachemson/Al Jazeera]
Phuthita Chaianun met Al Jazeera at a bookstore where she took a seminar on democracy 12 years ago while studying at Chiang Mai University.
The course sparked the 36-year-old’s interest in politics, culminating last month with her election to parliament as a representative for Move Forward. While she is happy with the result and optimistic about the direction Thailand is moving in, the trials of her years as an activist have taken their toll.
“It was hard to watch my friends get sent to jail and flee the country, or disappear,” she said, referring to fellow pro-democracy activist Wanchalearm Satsaksit, who was abducted in Cambodia in 2020 and never seen again.
Phuthita has had her own run-ins with the law, including spending a night in jail after protesting the anniversary of the 2014 coup. While she said she was never afraid, she grew disillusioned, because of divisions in the pro-democracy movement and a sense of futility.
“I had to take a break for my mental health. I had become hopeless about the state of democracy in Thailand,” she said. She moved to Shanghai for about two years to study Chinese before the rise of the Future Forward Party rekindled her spirit.
The predecessor of Move Forward, Future Forward, came out of nowhere to finish third in the 2019 elections before being dissolved and its leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit banned from politics on charges of financial misconduct, which supporters and rights groups condemned as politically motivated.
“Future Forward and Thanathorn gave me hope again. When I saw Thanathorn, I wanted to come back and fight,” said Phuthita.
She moved to Bangkok after the 2019 election, serving as an aide in Future Forward before returning to Chiang Mai when COVID-19 hit.
“I never wanted to be a politician,” Phuthita said, but when she became pregnant with her first child, her choice became “completely clear”.
“I realised I needed to make a better society for my children.”
Now that she is in parliament, Phuthita says she will support Move Forward’s plans to rewrite the military-drafted constitution and address income inequality. And on a more personal level, she hopes to “help my friends who are facing politically motivated charges” and “revive justice in Thailand”.
Phuthita says she also plans to work with other female politicians to introduce a quota for women in parliament. Gender perceptions in Thailand are changing, she says.
“Before they thought of women politicians as just a flower, but now it’s clear Thai people trust us,” she said, though problems still persist.
“A man from another political party even called me a housemaid to try to discredit me and said I’m just a shadow of my husband,” she said. “I think being a woman and a mother is a strength. I’m gentle and genuine.”
She credits Move Forward’s victory in Chiang Mai to its more radical calls for reform.
“People understand that populist policies don’t work any more. They understand the economy and politics should go together. The way to fix the problems in the economy is to fix the entire political structure,” she said.
Describing herself as an introvert, Phuthita says she likes art, peace and quiet. “I like to stay home with my family,” she said. “If I wasn’t a politician, I’d like to have my own art gallery.”
But she has little time to pursue her passions. She joined a civil society organisation working on mining and the environment straight out of university and has dedicated most of her time since to human rights and activism.
While she previously said there was nothing to be happy about during the troubled years following the coup, she now sees some light at the end of the tunnel.
“I feel more powerful and hopeful and happy. I can see something is going to change,” she said.
Even if the establishment finds a way to block Move Forward from forming a government, she thinks something has been unleashed that cannot be contained again.
“It’s Thailand. Anything is possible. But the majority of Thai people have now become aware.”
Srisopha Kotkhamlue, Pheu Thai
Srisopha Kotkhamlue, the daughter of a prominent politician, says she aims to be “better than him” [Andrew Nachemson/Al Jazeera]
Srisopha Kotkhamlue, 30, sat down with Al Jazeera the day before her master’s exam in public administration. The next day, the energetic Pheu Thai MP-elect passed the test and flew back to Chiang Mai in time for the evening’s LGBTQ pride parade.
The daughter of a prominent politician, Srisopha had long eyed a career in politics and even considered running in the 2019 election.
“I was really young, so I decided to spend some time learning from people with more experience,” she said, explaining that she served as a secretary for the Chiang Mai provincial administration and team manager for the local football team, Chiang Mai United.
“I needed to work with a lot of men, which wasn’t always easy, but I learned a lot of leadership skills,” she said.
Srisopha was elected to represent Chiang Mai’s southernmost district 10, a rugged mountainous area mostly made up of protected forests and where local people often have no property documents. She hopes to change this, saying that granting property rights will help people become more secure and will protect the forest better, since there will be more clearly demarcated property lines for farms.
“Some people think a woman going to the forest by herself is dangerous, but I don’t mind,” she said.
Srisopha says she has had experiences with people not taking female politicians as seriously as the men or assuming they are less intelligent or weak, but believes “the majority of people have changed their perspective of women”.
Like Phuthita, she sees her gender as a strength, saying constituents may find women more personable and “easier to talk to” about their problems. “We’re better at understanding how people feel,” she said.
Being the young daughter of a prominent male politician also poses some challenges, but Srisopha remains unintimidated.
“At first, it was hard because people have their own idea of me because of their opinion of my father,” she said. “When you have no accomplishments yet, of course, they will think that way.”
But she says as she continues her political career, she is establishing her own brand.
“Work will prove everything,” she said. “I just have to be even better than him.”
While Srisopha won her race by a comfortable margin, the election was disappointing for the party as a whole, particularly in Chiang Mai, which she said should be a lesson.
Srisopha, who has a degree in economics from Kingston University in the United Kingdom, says while she believes Pheu Thai is the best party to address Thailand’s economic problems, voters feel “that’s not enough”.
“Not just the economy, we need to focus more on human rights,” she said, including issues like same-sex marriage, which Srisopha says she “fully supports”.
If Pheu Thai had to lose, she said she was happy Move Forward won, rather than a military-backed party.
“It shows Chiang Mai has democracy in its heart.”
Karanic Chantada, Move Forward
Karanic Chantada wants to improve social welfare and public healthcare [Andrew Nachemson/Al Jazeera]
Karanic Chantada spoke to Al Jazeera at a café next to the pharmacy where she worked before becoming a candidate for Move Forward.
After pharmacy school, the 32-year-old worked as a flight attendant for China Airlines for three years, based in Bangkok, before moving back to Chiang Mai when she was laid off during the pandemic. Her return to pharmacy work during COVID-19 was a key part of her political awakening.
“During COVID-19, there was a shortage of hygienic products like face masks and the prices of everything shot up. Before, it was 100 baht [$2.9] for a box of face masks but it increased to 700-1,000 baht [$20-$28],” she said.
When senior government officials were implicated in stockpiling and price gouging, it enraged the nation, including Karanic, who was motivated to start volunteering with Move Forward.
“I was part of the staff that helped organise and promote events like public debates and speeches,” she said. The process of moving from a volunteer to a candidate included an interview and a personal essay.
“You don’t need to be a rich person or a powerful businessman to become a candidate for Move Forward,” she said.
Unsurprisingly, Karanic says the most important issue to her is improving social welfare in Thailand, particularly public health services.
“Everyone, whether they are rich or poor, should be able to get proper welfare from the government instead of having to put aside money in case they need healthcare,” she said.
Karanic says while she had experienced some “sexual harassment” on the campaign trail, mostly from older men who were rude or made “bad jokes”, the situation was improving.
She thinks youth is more important than gender. “As a young person, I can be more adaptable to different groups of people and communicate with young people and elders in a more informal way,” she said, adding that there is a challenge in balancing professionalism with being approachable.
She also attributes the election result to the will of the new generation.
“Young people are not under the traditional hierarchy system, they’re not afraid to ask questions, to demand their rights or to give their opinions,” she said.
Karanic said in her free time she likes to go jogging and read Thai fiction, but when asked what she was currently reading, she laughed and pulled out a thick binder on constitutional law and protocols for new MPs.
She says she only intends to serve for one or two terms before letting “fresh blood” take over.
“I want politicians to act as volunteers, or servants of the people, not to come to parliament for personal benefits or business connections,” she said. “Move Forward is fighting against this type of political culture.”
NEW YORK (AP) — In a new video posted early Election Day, Beyoncé channels Pamela Anderson in the television program “Baywatch” – red one-piece swimsuit and all – and asks viewers to vote.
In the two-and-a-half-minute clip, set to most of “Bodyguard,” a four-minute cut from her 2024 country album “Cowboy Carter,” Beyoncé cosplays as Anderson’s character before concluding with a simple message, written in white text: “Happy Beylloween,” followed by “Vote.”
At a rally for Donald Trump in Pittsburgh on Monday night, the former president spoke dismissively about Beyoncé’s appearance at a Kamala Harris rally in Houston in October, drawing boos for the megastar from his supporters.
“Beyoncé would come in. Everyone’s expecting a couple of songs. There were no songs. There was no happiness,” Trump said.
She did not perform — unlike in 2016, when she performed at a presidential campaign rally for Hillary Clinton in Cleveland – but she endorsed Harris and gave a moving speech, initially joined onstage by her Destiny’s Child bandmate Kelly Rowland.
“I’m not here as a celebrity, I’m not here as a politician. I’m here as a mother,” Beyoncé said.
“A mother who cares deeply about the world my children and all of our children live in, a world where we have the freedom to control our bodies, a world where we’re not divided,” she said at the rally in Houston, her hometown.
“Imagine our daughters growing up seeing what’s possible with no ceilings, no limitations,” she continued. “We must vote, and we need you.”
Harris used the song in July during her first official public appearance as a presidential candidate at her campaign headquarters in Delaware. That same month, Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, publicly endorsed Harris for president.
Beyoncé gave permission to Harris to use the song, a campaign official who was granted anonymity to discuss private campaign operations confirmed to The Associated Press.
Outside of sports and a “Cold front coming down from Canada,” American news media only report on Canadian events that they believe are, or will be, influential to the US. Therefore, when Justin Trudeau’s announcement, having finally read the room, that Canada will be reducing the number of permanent residents admitted by more than 20 percent and temporary residents like skilled workers and college students will be cut by more than half made news south of the border, I knew the American media felt Trudeau’s about-face on immigration was newsworthy because many Americans would relate to Trudeau realizing Canada was accepting more immigrants than it could manage and are hoping their next POTUS will follow Trudeau’s playbook.
Canada, with lots of space and lacking convenient geographical ways for illegal immigrants to enter the country, though still many do, has a global reputation for being incredibly accepting of immigrants. On the surface, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver appear to be multicultural havens. However, as the saying goes, “Too much of a good thing is never good,” resulting in a sharp rise in anti-immigrant sentiment, which you can almost taste in the air. A growing number of Canadians, regardless of their political affiliation, are blaming recent immigrants for causing the housing affordability crises, inflation, rise in crime and unemployment/stagnant wages.
Throughout history, populations have engulfed themselves in a tribal frenzy, a psychological state where people identify strongly with their own group, often leading to a ‘us versus them’ mentality. This has led to quick shifts from complacency to panic and finger-pointing at groups outside their tribe, a phenomenon that is not unique to any particular culture or time period.
My take on why the American news media found Trudeau’s blatantly obvious attempt to save his political career, balancing appeasement between the pitchfork crowd, who want a halt to immigration until Canada gets its house in order, and immigrant voters, who traditionally vote Liberal, newsworthy; the American news media, as do I, believe immigration fatigue is why Kamala Harris is going to lose on November 5th.
Because they frequently get the outcome wrong, I don’t take polls seriously. According to polls in 2014, Tim Hudak’s Progressive Conservatives and Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals were in a dead heat in Ontario, yet Wynne won with more than twice as many seats. In the 2018 Quebec election, most polls had the Coalition Avenir Québec with a 1-to-5-point lead over the governing Liberals. The result: The Coalition Avenir Québec enjoyed a landslide victory, winning 74 of 125 seats. Then there’s how the 2016 US election polls showing Donald Trump didn’t have a chance of winning against Hillary Clinton were ridiculously way off, highlighting the importance of the election day poll and, applicable in this election as it was in 2016, not to discount ‘shy Trump supporters;’ voters who support Trump but are hesitant to express their views publicly due to social or political pressure.
My distrust in polls aside, polls indicate Harris is leading by a few points. One would think that Trump’s many over-the-top shenanigans, which would be entertaining were he not the POTUS or again seeking the Oval Office, would have him far down in the polls. Trump is toe-to-toe with Harris in the polls because his approach to the economy—middle-class Americans are nostalgic for the relatively strong economic performance during Trump’s first three years in office—and immigration, which Americans are hyper-focused on right now, appeals to many Americans. In his quest to win votes, Trump is doing what anyone seeking political office needs to do: telling the people what they want to hear, strategically using populism—populism that serves your best interests is good populism—to evoke emotional responses. Harris isn’t doing herself any favours, nor moving voters, by going the “But, but… the orange man is bad!” route, while Trump cultivates support from “weird” marginal voting groups.
To Harris’s credit, things could have fallen apart when Biden abruptly stepped aside. Instead, Harris quickly clinched the nomination and had a strong first few weeks, erasing the deficit Biden had given her. The Democratic convention was a success, as was her acceptance speech. Her performance at the September 10th debate with Donald Trump was first-rate.
Harris’ Achilles heel is she’s now making promises she could have made and implemented while VP, making immigration and the economy Harris’ liabilities, especially since she’s been sitting next to Biden, watching the US turn into the circus it has become. These liabilities, basically her only liabilities, negate her stance on abortion, democracy, healthcare, a long-winning issue for Democrats, and Trump’s character. All Harris has offered voters is “feel-good vibes” over substance. In contrast, Trump offers the tangible political tornado (read: steamroll the problems Americans are facing) many Americans seek. With Trump, there’s no doubt that change, admittedly in a messy fashion, will happen. If enough Americans believe the changes he’ll implement will benefit them and their country…
The case against Harris on immigration, at a time when there’s a huge global backlash to immigration, even as the American news media are pointing out, in famously immigrant-friendly Canada, is relatively straightforward: During the first three years of the Biden-Harris administration, illegal Southern border crossings increased significantly.
The words illegal immigration, to put it mildly, irks most Americans. On the legal immigration front, according to Forbes, most billion-dollar startups were founded by immigrants. Google, Microsoft, and Oracle, to name three, have immigrants as CEOs. Immigrants, with tech skills and an entrepreneurial thirst, have kept America leading the world. I like to think that Americans and Canadians understand the best immigration policy is to strategically let enough of these immigrants in who’ll increase GDP and tax base and not rely on social programs. In other words, Americans and Canadians, and arguably citizens of European countries, expect their governments to be more strategic about immigration.
The days of the words on a bronze plaque mounted inside the Statue of Liberty pedestal’s lower level, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…” are no longer tolerated. Americans only want immigrants who’ll benefit America.
Does Trump demagogue the immigration issue with xenophobic and racist tropes, many of which are outright lies, such as claiming Haitian immigrants in Ohio are abducting and eating pets? Absolutely. However, such unhinged talk signals to Americans who are worried about the steady influx of illegal immigrants into their country that Trump can handle immigration so that it’s beneficial to the country as opposed to being an issue of economic stress.
In many ways, if polls are to be believed, Harris is paying the price for Biden and her lax policies early in their term. Yes, stimulus spending quickly rebuilt the job market, but at the cost of higher inflation. Loosen border policies at a time when anti-immigrant sentiment was increasing was a gross miscalculation, much like Trudeau’s immigration quota increase, and Biden indulging himself in running for re-election should never have happened.
If Trump wins, Democrats will proclaim that everyone is sexist, racist and misogynous, not to mention a likely White Supremacist, and for good measure, they’ll beat the “voter suppression” button. If Harris wins, Trump supporters will repeat voter fraud—since July, Elon Musk has tweeted on Twitter at least 22 times about voters being “imported” from abroad—being widespread.
Regardless of who wins tomorrow, Americans need to cool down; and give the divisive rhetoric a long overdue break. The right to an opinion belongs to everyone. Someone whose opinion differs from yours is not by default sexist, racist, a fascist or anything else; they simply disagree with you. Americans adopting the respectful mindset to agree to disagree would be the best thing they could do for the United States of America.
PHOENIX (AP) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent proponent of debunked public health claims whom Donald Trump has promised to put in charge of health initiatives, said Saturday that Trump would push to remove fluoride from drinking water on his first day in office if elected president.
Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water has long been considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century.
Kennedy made the declaration Saturday on the social media platform X alongside a variety of claims about the heath effects of fluoride.
“On January 20, the Trump White House will advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water,” Kennedy wrote. Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, “want to Make America Healthy Again,” he added, repeating a phrase Trump often uses and links to Kennedy.
Trump told NBC News on Sunday that he had not spoken to Kennedy about fluoride yet, “but it sounds OK to me. You know it’s possible.”
The former president declined to say whether he would seek a Cabinet role for Kennedy, a job that would require Senate confirmation, but added, “He’s going to have a big role in the administration.”
Asked whether banning certain vaccines would be on the table, Trump said he would talk to Kennedy and others about that. Trump described Kennedy as “a very talented guy and has strong views.”
The sudden and unexpected weekend social media post evoked the chaotic policymaking that defined Trump’s White House tenure, when he would issue policy declarations on Twitter at virtually all hours. It also underscored the concerns many experts have about Kennedy, who has long promoted debunked theories about vaccine safety, having influence over U.S. public health.
In 1950, federal officials endorsed water fluoridation to prevent tooth decay, and continued to promote it even after fluoride toothpaste brands hit the market several years later. Though fluoride can come from a number of sources, drinking water is the main source for Americans, researchers say.
Officials lowered their recommendation for drinking water fluoride levels in 2015 to address a tooth condition called fluorosis, that can cause splotches on teeth and was becoming more common in U.S. kids.
In August, a federal agency determined “with moderate confidence” that there is a link between higher levels of fluoride exposure and lower IQ in kids. The National Toxicology Program based its conclusion on studies involving fluoride levels at about twice the recommended limit for drinking water.
A federal judge later cited that study in ordering the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to further regulate fluoride in drinking water. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen cautioned that it’s not certain that the amount of fluoride typically added to water is causing lower IQ in kids, but he concluded that mounting research points to an unreasonable risk that it could be. He ordered the EPA to take steps to lower that risk, but didn’t say what those measures should be.
In his X post Saturday, Kennedy tagged Michael Connett, the lead attorney representing the plaintiff in that lawsuit, the environmental advocacy group Food & Water Watch.
Kennedy’s anti-vaccine organization has a lawsuit pending against news organizations including The Associated Press, accusing them of violating antitrust laws by taking action to identify misinformation, including about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines. Kennedy is on leave from the group but is listed as one of its attorneys in the lawsuit.
What role Kennedy might hold if Trump wins on Tuesday remains unclear. Kennedy recently told NewsNation that Trump asked him to “reorganize” agencies including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration and some agencies under the Department of Agriculture.
But for now, the former independent presidential candidate has become one of Trump’s top surrogates. Trump frequently mentions having the support of Kennedy, a scion of a Democratic dynasty and the son of former Attorney General Robert Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy.
Kennedy traveled with Trump Friday and spoke at his rallies in Michigan and Wisconsin.
Trump said Saturday that he told Kennedy: “You can work on food, you can work on anything you want” except oil policy.
“He wants health, he wants women’s health, he wants men’s health, he wants kids, he wants everything,” Trump added.
