After years of military rule Thailand will go to the polls on March 24th 2019. Whilst many observers believe even after the election the military will retain substantial power, that hasn’t stopped a plethora of parties from registering. One of the most interesting of all the parties to register is the newly formed The Commoners Party which came officially a political party in 2018.

Although tiny in comparison to other parties with just over 1000 members, The Commoners Party is many years in the making growing from a grassroots movement, offering an alternative to the typical money driven populist hierarchical politics common in Thailand.

Formed by a group of activists, NGO workers and members of community environmental groups largely from rural Thailand, The Commoners Party sets out to be governed by the working poor with its members from communities across the country largely deciding the policies it will align itself with. Decentralization of power, the supporting of human rights and equality, and social and ecological justice features highly on the party’s policy list. Even its elected chief, a man called Lertsak Kamkongsak, has spent the last 20 years supporting communities around the country who fight against issues related to mining operations and the negative impacts they cause.

But the party is realistic and doesn’t expect to win that many seats in this years election, but they see it as the beginning of a new chapter in the movement and a starting point to possibly instigate social change. Some experts say it came together due to very little other options  available for those fighting inequality and equal rights, and so it will be seen over time whether the Commoners Party can become a serious instigator of change for the better.