Thae Vows Not to Abandon Udon Amid Defection Crisis
Thai Citizens Party leader Nattapong Ruengpanya visited Udon Thani to address defections and reaffirm commitment to constituents, arguing that systemic political flaws rather than individual failures drive MPs to switch allegiances.
On July 24, 2025, Nattapong Ruengpanya, a Thai Citizens Party list MP and party leader, visited Kumphawapi District in Udon Thani Province's District 7—the constituency of MP Suriya Wongareey, who has been voting in alignment with the Bhumjaithai Party despite being elected on the Thai Citizens Party ticket. The visit aimed to address public concerns, meet with party members, and reaffirm the party's commitment to the area.
In the morning, Nattapong greeted constituents at the local morning market in Kumphawapi, discussing their grievances. Residents welcomed him warmly, expressing frustration that the Thai Citizens Party is not in government and urging the party to find a replacement candidate who would genuinely represent them according to their original voting intention.
In the afternoon, Nattapong attended a briefing on water management for the Kumphawapi water supply and maintenance project, consulting with relevant agencies and community representatives about preparedness for the upcoming rainy and dry seasons.
Nattapong emphasized that water management should not be crisis-driven but rather systematically planned from upstream to downstream, aligned with local conditions and public needs. He called on the Irrigation Department and related agencies to upgrade water management capacity to cope with climate change impacts, as local communities bear the greatest burden.
Addressing the defection issue, Nattapong stressed that representatives must remember where they come from and maintain respect for the public mandate. He expressed confidence that citizens reject politics that violates their will. When MPs abandon their party's ideology, the party must return to serve the people while recruiting capable personnel committed to the party's principles.
Nattapong argued that defections reflect not individual failures but systemic flaws in Thailand's political framework. If each defection is met only with personal blame, the pattern will repeat endlessly. "What needs fixing is not just people, but the rules," he stated, noting that the 2017 Constitution created loopholes enabling political horse-trading, MP poaching, and factional politics that undermine voter voice.
The Thai Citizens Party leader pledged to push for political rules reform alongside building a cadre of politicians rooted in public trust, ensuring every vote matters and preventing betrayal of the people's confidence from becoming normalized in Thai society.
