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was carried out in each constituency, but canvassers would carefully select certain groups of

voters.

In views of CSOs and political groups, this election was expected to lead to the victory
of either “democracy” or “dictatorship”. The roles of these groups in the election were both

formal and informal, e.g., publicizing election rules, educating some voters, or even being part
of vote-buying.

For public organizations involved in the election, they needed to understand changing
political circumstances and were obliged to publicize the rules and educate voters. Specifically,

these organizations were asked to organize a fair and unblemished election.

Election results show that electoral competition in Phayao changed from being

between two big parties—Thai Ruk Thai (TRT, a predecessor party of Pheu Thai Party)
versus the Democrat Party (DP)—to being between PT, Palang Pracharat Party (PPRP), and
Future Forward (FF) party. In this new competition, the candidates’ party policies, political

campaigns and, personal branding affected voters’ decisions and election results. For instance,

PT was only able to win in Constituency 2, and with fewer votes than in the previous election.
In Constituencies 1 and 3, PPRP gained victory, though it was found that the shift of these
two candidates from their former party to PPRP was a significant factor.