Chamber:
	Saphaphuthan Ratsadon
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	22 March 1992
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for all the seats in the new House of Representatives provided for in the December 1991 Constitution. General elections had previously been held in July 1988.
Background and outcome of elections:
	On 23 February 1991, a military coup d’Etat led to the dissolution of the Parliament elected in July 1988. The next month, an interim Constitution was promulgated and a unicameral National Legislative Assembly was appointed. A new definitive Constitution was then adopted and came into effect in December 1991. The election date was announced on 24 December. The main contestants in the March 1992 poll were the ruling pro-military coalition of five parties (Chart Thai (Thai Nation) Party, Social Action Party, Thai Citizens Party, Samakkhi Tham (Justice Unity) Party and Rassadorn Party), challenged by the opposition New Aspiration Party, Palang Dharma (Righteous Force) and the Democrat Party. There were altogether 15 group contenders and more than 2800 individual candidates for the 360 seats at stake. No single party won an overall majority of seats on polling day, the air force-backed Samakkhi Tham, led by Mr. Narong Wongwan, capturing the largest number (79) at the head of its four allies, who together won 116 more to give the coalition 54% of the total. Led by the newly founded New Aspiration Party, the “pro-democracy” opposition, for its part, did better than expected; Palang Dharma, led by Mr. Chamlong Srimvang, took 32 of the 35 seats in Bangkok, the capital, after having campaigned especially against corruption in politics. Of the 270 Senators appointed the same day polling took place, more than half were military and police officers. On 25 March, Mr. Wongwan was nominated by the outgoing coalition as Prime Minister, after intense negotiations over whether this post should go to an elected parliamentarian or a high-ranking military man. Two weeks later, however, Mr. Wongwan - suspected of having links with the drug trade - was replaced by General Suchinda Kraprayoon, the country’s supreme military commander; his coalition Council of Ministers was announced on 17 April. This chain of events sparked widespread anti-military demonstrations and protests, and violent reaction by the police and armed forces. Public disgust at the violence forced General Suchinda to resign on 24 May. On 10 June, after adoption of a constitutional amendment allowing only an elected parliamentarian to become Prime Minister, Mr. Anand Panyaruchun was appointed to this post as head of an interim Government. On 30 June, the House of Representatives was dissolved after support for the pro-military ruling coalition had weakened and new general elections were scheduled for 13 September.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (22 March 1992): Elections results
Number of registered electors	32,432,087
Voters	19,224,201 (59.27%)
Blank or invalid ballot papers	832,350
Valid votes	18,391,851

Round no 1: Distribution of votes
Political Group	%
Samakkhi Tham Party*	21.9
Chart Thai Party	20.6
New Aspiration Party*	20.0
Democrat Party	12.2
Palang Dharma Party	11.4
Social Action Party	8.6
Thai Citizens Party	1.9
Solidarity Party	1.7
Rassadorn Party	1.1
Mass Party	0.3
Thai People’s Party	0.3

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total
Samakkhi Tham Party*	79
Chart Thai Party	74
New Aspiration Party*	72
Democrat Party	44
Palang Dharma Party	41
Social Action Party	31
Thai Citizens Party	7
Solidarity Party	6
Rassadorn Party	4
Mass Party	1
Thai People’s Party	1

Comments:
	* New party.

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	348
Women:	12

Distribution of seats according to age:
25-30 years	6
31-35 years	38
36-40 years	51
41-45 years	53
46-50 years	63
51-55 years	64
56-60 years	42
61-65 years	28
66-70 years	9
71-75 years	3
76-80 years	3
Distribution of seats according to profession:
Businessmen	121
Political officials	99
Lawyers	39
Civil servants	26
Pensioners	16
Tradesmen	12
Farmers	9
Doctors	8
Teachers	5
Engineers	4
Military officers	2
State enterprise employees	2
Employees	2
Policemen	2
Others	13