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The research employs surveys of previous research on elections in Bangkok, analysis

of legal frameworks, newspaper database content analysis, in-depth interviews with
those who were involved in the elections (party members, candidates who won and lost,

canvassers, community leaders, government officers from the Election Commission and local
election committees, and non-governmental organization staff who observed the election).

The research focuses on the time frame of the pre-election, election, and post-election periods.

The findings of the research are as follow.

1) The 2019 general election took place after a long period (eight years) since

the previous successfully endorsed general election in 2011 and the coup in 2014. Under

the coup regime, political documents and regulations including the Constitution, election
laws, and political party laws were changed. Political activities were banned until the
announcement of the election.

2) During the 2019 election there were 30 constituencies in Bangkok, compared with

33 constituencies in the 2011 election. Of these 30, Palang Pracharat Party won 12 seats, Pheu

Thai 9 seats, and Future Forward Party 9 seats. The seats they won in Bangkok were the largest
number of seats they won nationwide. The Democrat Party, which had been the most popular
in Bangkok in the previous election, did not win any seats, although they still captured

a significant share of the votes cast across the city.

3) Some broad observations can be made concerning the four parties that earned
significant shares of the vote in Bangkok:

3.1) The Democrat Party lost its ideological appeal among the voters and

experienced a paradox of its own institutional strength. The former winners
of the constituencies were reendorsed to the candicacy, while the runner-ups

decided to move to other parties especially the Pro-coup Palang Pracharat.
The party was unsuccessful in appealing to the voter with their political stand

of neither support the coup regime nor Thaksin. The party also lost several
members who moved out of the party to run under other parties and won.

This is because the party still picked former candidates who won in the last
election to run again, creating a big constraint that prevented other potential

candidates from running.