Chamber:
	Saphaphuthan Ratsadon
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	17 November 1996
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for all seats in the House of Representatives following the premature dissolution of this body on 27 September 1996. General elections had previously been held in July 1995.
Background and outcome of elections:
	The premature dissolution of the House of Representatives took place less than 15 months after the previous general elections and following an acrimonious parliamentary debate of no confidence in the coalition Government of Prime Minister Banharn Silpa-Archa (Chart Thai Party), which the opposition accused of corruption and mismanagement of financial institutions. After the above-mentioned debate, the Prime-Minister agreed to step down under pressure from his governing allies, especially the New Aspiration Party (NAP) headed by General Chaovalit Yongchaiyut and the Nam Thai Party. The partners had forced this move in exchange for their support in the confidence vote, which the Government won. It then stayed on in a caretaker capacity until the November poll - the fourth since 1992. The seven-week campaign was lively, costly and punctuated with charges of vote buying. Altogether 2310 candidates (including 360 women) and 13 parties vied for the 393 House seats at stake (two more than in 1995). In the face of the downturn which the country's economy was experiencing after years of steady growth, revitalisation of this sector was the dominant issue emphasised by the two main contenders: the NAP and the opposition Democrat Party (DP) of former Prime Minister (from 1992 to 1995) Chuan Leekpai. Pre-election polls had the two groups running neck-and-neck as favourites. These predictions indeed proved correct, as NAP upped its house total by almost 70 seats and edged out the DP, which also gained nearly 40 on its reform-oriented and anti-corruption platform. In contrast, the weakened Chart Thai, its ranks splintered since the call of elections, incurred heavy losses and surrended its leading parliamentary position to the NAP. In the capital Bangkok, DP won most of the seats. Given this outcome, a new coalition headed by NAP and comprising all but one of the previous ruling partners (Chart Patthana, Social Action Party, Prachakorn Thai, Muan Chon and Seritham) was formed; in the House, it was backed by more than 220 Representatives. Gen. Chaovalit, the former supreme military commander and Defence Minister in the outgoing administration, fulfilled his ambition of becoming Prime Minister, being formally appointed to this post by King Bhumibol on 25 November. Four days later, the new Cabinet was named.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (17 November 1996): Elections results
Number of registered electors	38,000,000 (approx)
Voters	62.4%

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total	Gain/Loss
New Aspiration Party (NAP)*	125	+68
Democrat Party (DP)	123	+37
Chart Patthana*	52	-1
Chart Thai	39	-53
Social Action Party*	20	-2
Prachakorn Thai*	18	=
Ekkaparb	8	=
Seritham*	4	-7
Muan Chon*	2	-1
Palang Dharma	1	-22
Nam Thai	1	-17

Comments:
	*members of the governing coalition 2 seats added since last elections

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	371
Women:	22