Pita comeback, Rukchanok fever: People’s Party ramps up Orange momentum before Feb 8 vote

In the final stretch before Thailand’s February 8, 2026 election, every party is stepping on the accelerator in a bid to secure seats and position itself for government—whether the People’s Party (PPLE), Pheu Thai, or Bhumjaithai. With the race for Government House and the country’s 33rd prime minister in play, campaign strategies are being thrown in “all in”.

For the People’s Party, the late-game move is a familiar name: Pita Limjaroenrat, former leader of the Move Forward Party, whose “Pita fever” helped drive momentum in the 2023 election. He has re-emerged to campaign in the final weeks, boosting the party’s push and amplifying the rising profile of Rukchanok Srinork, a party-list candidate who is currently helping keep the Orange current aloft.

After the dissolution of parliament, the People’s Party unveiled what it called a “people’s government” management team under the campaign “The Professionals”, inviting academics, technocrats and business leaders to join the Orange parade. The political subtext was clear: to signal to the traditional establishment that a People’s Party administration would not repeat the stumbles associated with earlier iterations of the movement—Future Forward and Move Forward.

This “grand compromise” approach echoes remarks by Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, secretary-general of the Progressive Movement, who has described the party’s evolution as a “three lives” theory: three distinct phases, with the current one being the third. The context has changed, he argues; the party’s methods must change too—while its core values and underlying thinking remain the same.

Piyabutr outlined the “three lives” this way: the first phase was created to fight the era of Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, mobilising large numbers of people, including those who had never cared about politics and supporters from many “colours”, making the movement’s tone more rallying and combative. The second phase followed the protest period and aimed to block Prayut from extending his rule. The third phase, he said, is about becoming a government—winning through elections and governing—requiring a different style.

In that framing, the People’s Party is no longer in the old “battle mode” of slogans such as “With us, no uncles”, but in a more compromise-ready mode aimed at forming a government. Even so, while the party continues to urge voters to back it strongly enough to form a single-party government, that remains a tougher challenge than it sounds.

As a result, the party is sending two messages at once: on one hand, it calls for voters to choose the People’s Party to form a government on its own; on the other, when asked about potential coalition partners, it does not shut the door—saying it can work with any party, with key conditions. It insists it must be the number-one party, it will not join with the Klatham Party under any circumstances, and it will no longer support Anutin as prime minister.

Yet “The Professionals” campaign appears, for many, to have largely fallen flat. While the experts presented may be genuinely accomplished in their fields, they tend to be behind-the-scenes figures with limited public recognition—diluting the campaign’s impact and reducing the buzz around it.

Adding to this, the party’s own internal polling, as cited in this account, suggests it remains around 150 MPs, plus or minus—similar to the 2023 level and still short of what it would need to win decisively. That has driven what it describes as a necessary “reset” using two final trump cards:

1. Bringing Pita back from abroad to campaign in the final stretch. His appearance on January 25 at Samyan Mitrtown reportedly received a positive response—though not at the peak intensity of 2023’s “Pita fever”.
2. Reigniting the Social Security reform debate. Within the party, the two MPs most closely associated with pushing this issue have been Rukchanok Srinork and Sahassawat Kumkong, a Chon Buri candidate. They have pursued the topic for nearly a year, and with other campaigns failing to gain traction, the party has now turned Social Security into a last major rallying theme—hoping to convert the roughly 24 million insured people into a decisive voter base.

This second card has proven particularly powerful, generating significant attention across multiple media outlets.

Whether these two “final cards” can carry the People’s Party across the line—delivering Government House and elevating party leader Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut to the position of the country’s 33rd prime minister—will be decided on February 8.