View source for March 1992 Thai general election

{{Infobox legislative election
| country = Thailand
| previous_election = [[1988 Thai general election|1988]]
| next_election = [[September 1992 Thai general election|September&nbsp;1992]]
| seats_for_election = All 360 seats in the [[House of Representatives of Thailand|House of Representatives]]
| majority_seats = 181
| election_date = 22 March 1992
| registered = 32,436,283
| turnout = 59.24% ({{decrease}} 4.32[[percentage point|pp]])

| party1 = New Aspiration Party | leader1 = [[Chavalit Yongchaiyudh]] | percentage1 = 22.42 | seats1 = 72 | last_election1 = New
| party2 = Justice Unity Party | leader2 = [[Narong Wongwan]] | percentage2 = 19.27 | seats2 = 79 | last_election2 = New
| party3 = Thai Nation Party | leader3 = [[Somboon Rahong]] | percentage3 = 16.41 | seats3 = 74 | last_election3 = 87
| party4 = Palang Dharma Party | leader4 = [[Chamlong Srimuang]] | percentage4 = 11.47 | seats4 = 41 | last_election4 = 14
| party5 = Democrat Party (Thailand) | leader5 = [[Chuan Leekpai]] | percentage5 = 10.57 | seats5 = 44 | last_election5 = 48
| party6 = Social Action Party | leader6 = [[Montri Pongpanich]] | percentage6 = 8.06 | seats6 = 31 | last_election6 = 54
| party7 = Thai Citizen Party | leader7 = [[Samak Sundaravej]] | percentage7 = 5.12 | seats7 = 7 | last_election7 = 31
| party8 = Solidarity Party (Thailand) | leader8 = [[Boonchu Rojanastien]] | percentage8 = 2.95 | seats8 = 6 | last_election8 = New
| party9 = Mass Party | leader9 = [[Chalerm Yubamrung]] | percentage9 = 1.00 | seats9 = 1 | last_election9 = 5
| party10 = People Party (Thailand) | leader10 = [[Tianchai Sirisampan]] | percentage10 = 0.85 | seats10 = 4 | last_election10 = 21
| party11 = Thai People Party | leader11 = [[Phon Ruengprasertwit]] | percentage11 = 0.36 | seats11 = 1 | last_election11 = 17

| title = [[Prime Minister of Thailand|Prime Minister]]
| before_election = [[Anand Panyarachun]]
| before_party = Independent politician
| after_election = [[Suchinda Kraprayoon]]
| after_party = Independent politician
}}

General elections were held in [[Thailand]] on 22 March 1992, the first after the [[National Peace Keeping Council]] overthrew the elected government of [[Chatichai Choonhavan]] in a coup on 23 February 1991. A total of 15 parties and 2,185 candidates contested the 360 seats. The [[Justice Unity Party]] emerged as the largest party in the [[House of Representatives of Thailand|House of Representatives]] with 79 seats despite receiving fewer votes than the [[New Aspiration Party]]. Voter turnout was 59%.<ref>[[Dieter Nohlen]], Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) ''Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II'', p286 {{ISBN|0-19-924959-8}}</ref>

==Results==
The [[Palang Dharma Party]] was very successful, especially in the Bangkok area where it won 32 of the 35 seats, many famous politicians were not elected, such as [[Police Captain]] [[Chalerm Yubamrung]], the [[Mass Party]] leader. (currently affiliated with the [[Pheu Thai Party]]), [[Marut Bunnag]], [[Pramote Sukhum]], [[Pichai Rattakul]], [[Charoen Kanthawong]] from the [[Democrat Party (Thailand)|Democrat Party]]. And it was considered the first political role of a new politician who later became an important player in politics, namely [[Abhisit Vejjajiva]], later the former party leader and former the 27th prime minister, who was the only MP from the Democrat Party in Bangkok and [[Khunying]] [[Sudarat Keyuraphan]] from the Palang Dharma Party is now the [[Thai Sang Thai Party]] leader.

{{Election results
|image=[[File:Thailand House of Representatives March 1992.svg]]
|party1=[[New Aspiration Party]]|votes1=9980150|seats1=72|sc1=New
|party2=[[Justice Unity Party]]|votes2=8578529|seats2=79|sc2=New
|party3=[[Thai Nation Party]]|votes3=7305674|seats3=74|sc3=–13
|party4=[[Palang Dharma Party]]|votes4=5104849|seats4=41|sc4=+27
|party5=[[Democrat Party (Thailand)|Democrat Party]]|votes5=4705376|seats5=44|sc5=–4
|party6=[[Social Action Party]]|votes6=3586714|seats6=31|sc6=–23
|party7=[[Thai Citizen Party]]|votes7=2280887|seats7=7|sc7=–24
|party8=[[Solidarity Party (Thailand)|Solidarity Party]]|votes8=1315075|seats8=6|sc8=New
|party9=[[Mass Party]]|votes9=443568|seats9=1|sc9=–4
|party10=[[People Party (Thailand)|People Party]]|votes10=376580|seats10=4|sc10=–17
|party11=United New Force|votes11=337361|seats11=0|sc11=New
|party12=[[Thai People Party]]|votes12=158037|seats12=1|sc12=–16
|party13=Local Progress Party|votes13=156808|seats13=0|sc13=New
|party14=Free Agriculture Party|votes14=152692|seats14=0|sc14=New
|party15=United Democracy Party|votes15=34651|seats15=0|sc15=New
|total_sc=+3
|valid=18668740
|invalid=547726
|electorate=32436283
|source=Nohlen ''et al''.
}}

==Aftermath==
In the first tier, the Justice Unity Party successfully supported Dr. Arthit Ourairat, who was a MPs of the party, to become [[President of the National Assembly of Thailand|Speaker of the House of Representatives]], an important position because of his position as [[President of the National Assembly of Thailand|Speaker of the National Assembly]] which is to lead the list of prime minister present to His Majesty and signed in response to the Royal Command appointment of the prime minister.

Both before and after this election the media went to interview General [[Suchinda Kraprayoon]], who was the commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Army and the Supreme Commander deputy leader of the [[National Peace Keeping Council]] many times whether to be prime minister or not which General Suchinda Has clearly refused to accept the position of prime minister.<ref>[[Chamlong Srimuang]] (1992) ร่วมกันสู้, Thira Printing, p31 {{ISBN|974-88799-9-2}}</ref> this gave Narong Wongwan, the leader of the Justice Unity Party with the highest votes, a chance to become prime minister, but it appears that the United States had refused to issue a visa to him due to suspicion that he was involved in a drug trafficking ring,<ref>Srimuang, p3</ref> in which case, Narong Wongwan has completely denied this news and that this news is deliberately fabricated to discourage himself becoming prime minister.

The Justice Unity Party won the most seats, 79 seats out of a total of 360 seats, less than half of the House of Representatives  causing the formation of a coalition government with the support from 4 political parties, including 5 coalition parties, namely Justice Unity Party (79), [[Thai Nation Party]] (74), [[Social Action Party]] (31),  [[Thai Citizen Party]] (7), and People Party (4), totaling 195 government MPs.{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}

While the opposition party consists of 6 parties, namely [[New Aspiration Party]] (72), [[Democrat Party (Thailand)|Democrat Party]] (44), [[Palang Dharma Party]] (41), [[Solidarity Party (Thailand)|Solidarity Party]] (6), Thai People's Party (1) and [[Mass Party]] (1) in total of 165 MPs for the opposition party.

Later, General Suchinda Kraprayoon, Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Army and Supreme Commander was invited as prime minister instead of Narong Wongwan by royal command appointed on Monday, April 7, 1992, but announced his resignation on Saturday, May 24, 1992 after the [[Black May (1992)|Black May]] incident, holding office for only 47 days.

After the Black May incident, many parties speculated that Air Chief Marshal Somboon Rahong, leader of the Thai Nation Party which has the second most elected MPs, will become the new prime minister. Eventually, Dr. Arthit Ourairat, the Speaker of the National Assembly, nominated the previous prime minister, [[Anand Panyarachun]], to return to the position of prime minister for a second term to prepare for a new election with a royal command  appointed on Tuesday 10 June 1992.

As for the Justice Unity Party, after the new prime minister, Narong Wongwan, the party's leader resigned, causing the party's executive committee to vacate the entire board. Most of the former party executive committees have decided to resign from party membership to form a new political party or move to other political parties. The remaining ex-executive committee members, including Narong, held a general meeting to change the party's name to Liberal Party and elect a new party executive committee in July 1992, but shortly thereafter. during August all party executive committees decided to resign from party membership. Before Supreme Court an order to dissolve the party later.

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Thai elections}}

[[Category:1992 elections in Asia|Thailand]]
[[Category:1992 elections in Thailand|General]]
[[Category:General elections in Thailand|1992 03]]