Surasit Jiamvichakorn denies there has been any party resolution to withdraw from the opposition. He explains that voting against the 2027 budget bill does not require agreement with the People's Party. He reveals that Captain Thammanat has never spoken about withdrawing.
On 22 Sep 2026 GMT+7, Surasit Jiamvichakorn, MP for Chiang Rai from the Kla Tham Party, addressed the claim by Parit Watcharasindhu, a party-list MP of the People's Party and chairman of the opposition whip committee, who said Kla Tham would be removed from the opposition after voting in favor of the 2027 budget bill. Surasit confirmed that Kla Tham has never passed a resolution to leave the opposition whip, nor has any Kla Tham MP informed Parit of such as alleged. The party has not met for 2-3 weeks, making a withdrawal resolution impossible. Regarding legislative votes, Kla Tham acts independently; they oppose measures deemed unbeneficial and support those beneficial, without needing to align with the People's Party. They reject being subordinate or following orders from any party. For example, after considering the 2027 budget bill, they voted to support it as beneficial. Surasit warned Parit not to misrepresent Kla Tham by claiming they would be removed from the opposition whip, as no such decision exists. He reaffirmed that Kla Tham remains an opposition party and that Captain Thammanat Prompao, the party leader, has never discussed withdrawing. The government side has not invited them to join, but Kla Tham is open to joining the government if invited in the future, since no party desires to remain permanently outside government.