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Thai Elections: The Commoners Party
luke duggleby
Mar 17, 2019
They may be tiny in comparison with just over 1000 members, only officially formed in 2018 and lack the budgets of other parties (they even made their own political banners) but the party is many years in the making, growing from a grassroots movement, offering an alternative to the typical populist hierarchical politics common in Thailand.
In this photograph taken in a remote district of Sakhon Nakhon Province in Northeast Thailand, Commoners Party members nail the party's handmade banners to a tree.
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. Decentralisation 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.
It will be interesting to see how well they do on March 24th. More of this series can be found on http://
Photo Copyright Luke Duggleby/Redux
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