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Thailand's Democratic Reform Drive Goes Local with Provincial Elections

Zsombor Peter

   KUALA LUMPUR - In Thailand, a group of ex-lawmakers shut out of
   national politics by a controversial court order is taking its reform
   agenda to the provinces by backing like-minded candidates in local
   elections long dominated by entrenched family networks.

   Thailand is holding elections to fill its Provincial Administrative
   Organizations (PAOs) on Dec. 20 for the first time since 2012, having
   put off local polls after a 2014 coup that brought on five years of
   military rule.

   Under the banner of their Progressive Movement, the former lawmakers
   are campaigning hard for hundreds of candidates with the same broad
   pro-democracy goals that have been galvanizing the student-led protests
   roiling Bangkok for the past few months.

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