Tisana Choonhavan and the insider attack threatening future of People’s Party

Former People’s Party MP Tisana “Kaewta” Choonhavan has launched a blistering attack on her old party, fanning a legal firestorm that threatens to engulf the third generation of Thailand’s progressive movement.

First, she called on party chief Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut to resign over the February 8 election defeat, accusing him of “inadequate leadership” and repeated failures to take responsibility for setbacks.

Opposition leader in the previous Parliament, the People’s Party finished second in the election behind Bhumjaithai, which led the pre-poll coalition government.

Bombshell claim

However, the 34-year-old Tisana followed up with a potentially more devastating blow – one that threatens not just the leadership but the party itself.

Speaking during a TV talk show, she claimed the party had targeted her as part of an online information operation (IO) conducted through media company Spectre C. Headquartered in the same building as the People’s Party, Spectre C is reportedly connected to several People’s Party executives. The Constitution bars political parties from holding shares in media companies.

Tisana, a granddaughter of former premier Chatichai Choonhavan, claims she was targeted after slamming the party and its leadership over the election defeat.

Responding to her allegations, People’s Party spokesperson Parit Wacharasindhu denied the party had used Spectre C to launch an information operation, saying the firm was hired only to produce media content.

However, serial petitioner Srisuwan Janya has filed a complaint with the Election Commission (EC), alleging the party deployed Spectre C to manipulate public opinion via IO activities during the election campaign. He has called for the party to be disbanded if the allegations are proven.

The People’s Party is now at risk of suffering the same fate as its predecessors, Future Forward and Move Forward, both of which were dissolved by the Constitutional Court following complaints to the EC.

Critics have accused Tisana of launching a revenge attack after the party decided not to field her in the February 8 election. She was elected as an MP for Bangkok’s Constituency 2 under the Move Forward banner in 2023.

Recently, she engaged in an online war of words with two party insiders – People’s Party MP Rukchanok Srinork and former Move Forward MP Amarat Chokepamitkul – and threatened to sue Amarat for suggesting she abused “addictive substances”.

Tisana denied her attacks were motivated by revenge, insisting that she accepted the party’s decision not to field her as a candidate. However, she expressed dismay at being targeted for “character assassination” by certain People’s Party politicians and their “IO team”, announcing that she was quitting politics for good.

“I joined the party because I love its ideology and principles of equality and democracy,” she said, adding that its centralised structure had undermined those founding ideals. She complained that the leadership does not encourage debate or diverse opinions within the party, adding that party regulations intended to maintain unity were actually restricting freedom.

“True liberals should allow dissent and disagreement within the party. Any organisation that limits dissent is essentially undermining democracy,” she said.

Heir to a political dynasty

Tisana was born on October 21, 1991, to a powerful political family. She is the daughter of the late Kraisak Choonhavan, a former senator and ex-deputy leader of the Democrat Party.

Her grandfather, General Chatichai, served as Thailand’s 17th premier from 1988 to 1991. Her great-grandfather, Field Marshal Phin Choonhaven, led the 1947 coup that brought Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram back to power. Plaek, who had helped Thailand enter an alliance with Japan during World War II, had been incarcerated for alleged war crimes.

He was a key member of the Khana Ratsadon (People’s Party), group of military and civil officers behind the 1932 revolution that ended absolute monarchy in Thailand.

Tisana earned a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Mahidol University and a master’s in public international law from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).

In 2014, she joined the Political and Security Division in the Foreign Ministry’s ASEAN Department as an intern before becoming a bureaucrat. She left two years later to become a partnership coordinator at the Freeland Foundation, an international non-profit combating wildlife trafficking and human slavery.

In 2020, Tisana co-founded the Constitution Laboratory (aka CONLAB), which advocates for a democratic, progressive constitution through public participation.

She was later appointed as adviser to the Parliament subcommittee on electoral efficiency and public participation. In 2022, she was appointed to a parliamentary committee tasked with reviewing a draft law on repealing unnecessary or redundant laws.