This year’s general election in Thailand resulted in victory for the Move Forward Party (MFP), an avowedly progressive, left-of-center force that advocates for comprehensive reforms and curbs on the Thai monarchy’s political influence. The MFP took 38 percent of the vote and won 151 of the 500 seats in Thailand’s House of Representatives. The surprising electoral outcome ignited optimism among the Thai public, with the MFP becoming a beacon of hope for those yearning for meaningful social change.

But the MFP’s efforts to form a government after the election were successfully blocked thanks to a political framework that Thailand’s military government put in place as a check on democracy. The MFP’s former ally, the Pheu Thai Party, broke ranks to nominate its own candidate for prime minister, the property tycoon Srettha Thavisin. Srettha has now taken office with conservative support, while the MFP remains locked out of power.

This turn of events raises a fundamental question: Can Thailand’s progressive movement genuinely place its trust in the idea of working through the existing political system? While developments in Thai politics will continue to unfold, it is now natural to suspect that conservative groups may have strategically shaped the election process in order to portray the results as a reflection of public desires. In reality, however, the outcome, which is now slipping from the grasp of the MFP, has ended up serving as an endorsement of the party’s preconceived agenda.