US proxies win Thai elections – US-Chinese tensions set to grow

In a development that will surely impact growing US-Chinese tensions, US-backed opposition parties have won Thailand’s May 14, 2023, general elections. A US-backed client regime taking power in Thailand will impact China’s Belt and Road Initiative, threaten bilateral trade and tourism, and perhaps even undermine regional security. This is particularly so should Thailand now begin working more closely with Washington over matters in the South China Sea, over Taiwan, or a number of other points of contention the US seeks to use to unify the region against Beijing, but that Thailand had so far refused to be drawn into. The two largest opposition parties, Move Forward Party and Pheu Thai Party, defacto run by billionaires Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit and Thaksin Shinawatra respectively, secured the largest number of seats in parliament. However, there are a number of legal and procedural hurdles that await them, including a selected senate with significant influence over who will be…