Chamber:
	Saphaphuthan Ratsadon
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	24 July 1988
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for all the seats in the House of Representatives following premature dissolution of this body on 29 April 1988. General elections had previously been held in July 1986.
Background and outcome of elections:
	On 15 April 1988, a no-confidence motion was tabled by the opposition parties in the House of Representatives, and debate thereon was set for 9 May. However, on 29 April, the House was dissolved although there were more than two years left of its four-year term, and the July polling date was set. Prime Minister (since 1980) Prem Tinsulanonda had recommended the dissolution after the main party (the centrist Democrats) in his coalition Government was split by a dispute over a copyright bill. Altogether 3,606 candidates (including 366 women) and 16 parties contested the enlarged House's 357 seats. Confronting the ruling parties (Democrats (DP), Chart Thai, Social Action Party (SAP) and Rassadorn) was a loose collection of anti-Prem groups. The newly-formed Palang Dharma (Force of Virtue) Party, headed by the governor of Bangkok, fielded the most candidates – 319. On polling day marked by a record voter turnout, no single party gained an overall House majority, and the conservative Chart Thai (Thai Nation) supplanted the divided DP as leading group with 87 seats. On 27 July, Gen. Prem declined an offer to remain as Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister, Chart Thai leader Chatichai Choonhavan, was named his successor. Chart Thai formed a new multiparty coalition Government with its former allies plus the United Democracy Party and, ultimately, the Mass Party; they together held 220 House seats. The new Cabinet was appointed on 9 August.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (24 July 1988): Elections results
Number of registered electors	26,658,637
Voters	16,944,931 (63.56%)
Blank or invalid ballot papers	594,788
Valid votes	16,350,143

Round no 1: Distribution of votes
Political Group	Candidates	%
Chart Thai Party	256	24.4
Social Action Party	213	15.1
Democrat Party	209	13.4
United Thai Party	205	9.8
Thai Citizen Party	207	8.7
Rassadorn Party	199	5.9
People Party*	255	5.3
Thai People's Party	244	4.8
Palang Dharma Party*	319	3.9
Community Action Party	216	2.5
Progressive Party	233	2.2
United Democratic Party	214	1.4
Mass Party	209	1.4
Liberal Party	189	0.8
Social Democratic Force Party	195	0.3
Democratic Labour Party	-	-
National Democracy Party	-	-
Thai Agricultural Industrial Party	214	-

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total	Gain/Loss
Chart Thai Party	87	+24
Social Action Party	54	+3
Democrat Party	48	-52
United Thai Party	35	+16
Thai Citizen Party	31	+7
Rassadorn Party	21	+3
People Party*	19	+19
Thai People's Party	17	+16
Palang Dharma Party*	14	+14
Community Action Party	9	-6
Progressive Party	8	-1
United Democratic Party	5	-33
Mass Party	5	+2
Liberal Party	3	+2
Social Democratic Force Party	1	=
Democratic Labour Party	-	-1
National Democracy Party	-	-3
Thai Agricultural Industrial Party	-	=

Comments:
	10 seats added since last elections. * New party.

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	262
Women:	5

Distribution of seats according to age:
25-30 years	17
31-35 years	42
36-40 years	45
41-45 years	60
46-50 years	72
51-55 years	50
56-60 years	32
61-65 years	24
66-70 years	12
71-75 years	1
76-80 years	2
Distribution of seats according to profession:
Businessmen	132
Politicians	72
Pensioners	10
Civil servants	32
Lawyers	43
Farmers	23
Teachers	12
Banking	4
Doctors	5
Engineer	6
Journalists	2
Architects	2
Broadcasting	2
Others	6
No indication of profession	6