New Future Party Co-Founder Dies in Surat Thani Truck Crash
Warayut Wutthi, a co-founder of Thailand's New Future Party and former Move Forward election candidate, died in a motorcycle crash involving a 10-wheel truck in Surat Thani. The prominent southern political organizer, known for grassroots campaigning and advocacy on land rights and agricultural prices, was memorialized by colleague Piyabutr Saengkanokkul as a dedicated activist who personally funded his political work.
In a lengthy Facebook post dated October 21, 2026, Piyabutr Saengkanokkul mourned the sudden death of Warayut Wutthi, a co-founder of the New Future Party and former Move Forward Party candidate for Surat Thani District 1. Piyabutr recalled Warayut — known as "Pee Tu" to him and "Na Tu" to younger party staff — as a tireless organizer in Surat Thani who dedicated himself to land rights, fair rubber and palm oil prices, welfare reform, decentralization, and a new constitution. After the New Future Party was dissolved, Warayut joined Move Forward and secured over 23,000 votes in the 2023 election, finishing a close second. He later became a key behind-the-scenes figure in the People's Party in Surat Thani. Piyabutr revealed Warayut had mortgaged and sold his own land to fund his 2023 campaign, relying on door-to-door canvassing due to limited resources. Their last meeting was at a People's Party southern workshop in Nakhon Si Thammarat on August 29-30, where Warayut actively engaged in strategy discussions, blending historical materialism with practical politics. Colleagues described him as a committed Marxist scholar who could translate complex theory into accessible political action, and who was eagerly learning new digital organizing tools until the end.
