Anutin received an overwhelming 293 votes to become Prime Minister. More surprisingly, a defector from the People's Party in Udon Thani constituency 7 voted for "Sia Nu" (Anutin), while six MPs from the Thai Ruam Palang Party cast all their votes for him despite not yet declaring support for the government.
On 19 March 2026 GMT+7, reporters reported that the vote for Anutin Charnvirakul, leader of the Bhumjaithai Party, to become Prime Minister included a coalition of 16 parties with 292 MPs in total. After calling MPs' names in alphabetical order, which took an hour, Anutin received 293 approval votes, while Natthapong received 119 votes, and 86 abstained. Sopon Sarum, Speaker of the House of Representatives, informed the assembly that Anutin had secured more than half the votes, so the assembly resolved to appoint him Prime Minister before adjourning the meeting at 13:23 GMT+7.
"Suriya," a defector from the People's Party.
Reporters stated that among the 293 votes supporting Anutin as Prime Minister, there was one defector vote from the People's Party: Suriya Wongaree, MP for Udon Thani constituency 7, who voted for Anutin. Similarly, all six votes from the Thai Ruam Palang Party went to Anutin. Only Chatchawan Paetayathai, MP for Roi Et from the Thai Sang Thai Party, declared himself an opposition member and abstained from voting.
Within the Pheu Thai Party, one MP abstained from voting—Lertsak Pattanaichakul. Likewise, in the Bhumjaithai Party, three MPs abstained: Sopon Sarum, Mallika Jiraphanwanich, and Anutin Charnvirakul.