From an awakening in ‘middle of nowhere’ Hamilton to the top of Thai politics, Pita Limjaroenrat is on the brink of becoming prime minister.

“Sensational” is how the leader of opposition party Move Forward, Pita Limjaroenrat, has described results in the Thai election that appear to signal the end of Prayuth Chan-ocha, the hardline prime minister who came to power in a coup nine years ago. In distinct contrast, Pita is the picture of a global-minded, dynamic, reformist leader. A 42-year-old educated at Harvard and former tech executive, he heads a party set upon overhauling draconian laws.

Also on his CV is this: a stint of schooling in New Zealand, where a lack of television options and Jim Bolger speeches engendered a remarkable political awakening.

Move Forward, the party led by Pita since 2020, is in the lead with 99% of votes counted in Thailand, reports Associated Press. The party is a whisker ahead of Pheu Thai, the opposition party led by Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, who was himself removed from office in a coup in a military coup in 2006. 

As reported by the Guardian, Pita told a Thai YouTube channel that his time studying in New Zealand “truly sparked his love for politics”. He said: “I got shipped to the middle of nowhere in New Zealand and there were three channels back then. Either you watch Australian soap operas, or you watch the debates in parliament.” While doing his homework, he said, he would listen to broadcasts of speeches by Jim Bolger, the National prime minister from 1990 to 1997.

In a 2012 interview, Pita is quoted as saying he was “mischievous, smoking and fighting” at school in Thailand, prompting his father to send his then 12-year-old son “to study in New Zealand … to go away and be a good boy”. In a separate interview he complained that there wasn’t much to do in New Zealand, “only nature and sheep”, and that cigarettes could not be bought by those under 18. During his time in the Waikato, his “rowdy” side was tempered by tasks including “picking strawberries, delivering milk, cycling and delivering newspapers”.

He lived with a farming family near Hamilton, according to a speech he gave to the New Zealand Thai Centre in 2019. The role of television, and its shortage of options, in early 90s New Zealand, clearly left its imprint. “When I was a 12- and 13-year-old in New Zealand, they only had three TV channels,” he said. “I still remember watching prime minister Jim Bolger at that time debate in parliament. I also vividly remember that New Zealand was the first country in the world to grant women the right to vote in 1893.”

The son of a former adviser to the Thai agriculture minister, Pita has in recent years achieved celebrity-level status in Thai politics. Nicknamed “Tim”, he is “considered a political heart-throb, inspiring pop-star levels of hysteria from his supporters”, according to a Channel News Asia profile. 

There is no guarantee that Pita will become prime minister, nor even that Move Forward will form a government. Opposition parties will need to hammer out a governing deal, while a joint house-senate session is tasked with selecting the prime minister. That is further complicated by the fact that all 250 members of the senate are appointed by the Royal Thai Military, tilting the balance against the 500 members of the House of Representatives. Recent history suggests Move Forward, like its predecessor the Future Forward Party, is vulnerable to technical legal challenges. 

Pita’s Move Forward proved especially popular among younger, urban voters, emphasising in its campaign the need for reform of the military and lèse-majesté laws which make insulting the monarchy a criminal offence. The party is close to a clean sweep of seats in the capital, Bangkok.

Under Pita, Move Forward “is surging in the polls,” according to an AP analysis previewing election day, “galvanising especially younger voters as it boldly advocates for reform of the military and monarchy, the latter a sensitive subject since the institution has traditionally been regarded as sacrosanct.”

In a social media post this morning, Pita said he would be a prime minister for all Thai people, saying: “Whether you agree or disagree with me, I will be your prime minister. Whether you voted for me or not, I will serve you … Together we will change this country.”

Did you go to school with a potential future Thai prime minister in early-90s New Zealand? Let us know: toby@thespinoff.co.nz 

The self-acclaimed ‘apostle’ revealed he will run for parliament as leader of Freedoms NZ alongside Sue Grey. Earlier in the day, Newshub Nation dumped a studio appearance after Tamaki reneged on commitments.  

Despite repeatedly insisting that he is not interested in standing for parliament, Brian Tamaki has announced that he will be co-leader of Freedoms NZ, the party born out of the parliamentary occupation. The leadership will be shared, he revealed, with Sue Grey, the lawyer and co-leader of the Outdoors and Freedom Party, which is joining the umbrella group to contest the election in October. 

Tamaki and Grey have routinely shared disinformation and conspiracy theories, with both becoming leading figures in the anti-vaccine, anti-mandate movement that culminated in the occupation of the grounds of parliament last year. 

When Tamaki, who also founded Destiny Church and the Freedoms and Rights Coalition, announced the formation of the party after a mock trial on the steps of parliament last Auckland, he stressed that he would not be personally on the ballot. At another rally, he said: “I’m not standing, by the way. That’s the last place I want to go. I’d have to turn into a deceiver, a liar and a crook.” 

Today, however, he announced he had changed his tune. “I will be standing to go to parliament and I’m standing today as the leader of the umbrella party,” he told supporters in Auckland. He had not wanted to seek election, but, “the country is in such a sad, sorry state, that I believe the people in Wellington right now are incapable of getting us out of this mess … Leadership is the biggest problem today, and leadership is the solution … No amount of policies is going to change this country.” He said: “Say what you want, but it aint a Brian Tamaki show. In fact I’ve been very pleased with myself that I’ve made so many concessions.”

In March, as revealed by The Spinoff, Tamaki said that the deadly, devastating floods of Cyclone Gabrielle were invited by a “moral depravity and degradation”, including high levels of pornography consumption in the worst hit areas. He told his Destiny Church parishioners that he had twigged to this after visiting the website Pornhub.

Earlier today, Tamaki was expected to appear on Newshub Nation, but the interview was pulled at the last minute. Freedoms NZ representatives, who approached producers some weeks ago eager to make an announcement on the programme, had agreed to standard requirements that they divulge the nature of the announcements they intended to make on the show. It was considered even more critical given Tamaki’s record of spreading disinformation. 

When Tamaki’s team reneged on the undertaking, producers dropped the interview. Tamaki arrived in the Newshub car park around 9am, with an aide learning at reception that it was not going ahead.

On the programme, host Rebecca Wright told viewers: “We were expecting to have Bishop Brian on the programme today but we couldn’t agree on the terms of that interview.”

Introducing Tamaki later in the morning, Jenny Marshall of Freedoms NZ said: “We had Newshub Nation all lined up for an interview and they pulled the plug on us because we would not tell them who the new parties were going to be that we were going to announce today, because we needed to wait for the parties to square everything off with their own boards.”

In the presentation, Tamaki took aim at the “death grip” of the two major parties and a “sick parliament”, saying, “Our parliament needs a huge disruption.” He referred repeatedly to the shortcomings of the National leader, “Chris Luxton” (sic). Other targets included Ashley Bloomfield, the bureaucracy, and the media, “telling lies about me and you”. 

Grey, who has been described as having “rock star status” in conspiracy groups, told today’s meeting: “They call us names but actually we’re the outliers, we’re the ones with the guts to stand up and do what needs to be done.”

Speaking at the August protest in Wellington, Tamaki indicated that the Outdoors and Freedom Party would be joining his alliance, but that was swiftly shot down by the party president, Alan Simmons. He told Stuff: “A lot of members are actually upset … We have actually had a few members resign today, thinking that we are in the coalition … I am a little bit worried that we could end up being labelled a totally freedom nutter party, which we seem to be getting labelled. But I am not sure what the Tamaki party stands for.”

The Outdoors Party was founded with in 2015 promising to promote “outdoors heritage”, but quickly became absorbed in opposition to 1080, 5G technology, Covid mandates and lockdowns. In response to protests outside Government House calling for the dissolution of parliament, a party spokesperson said: “Why would we want to dissolve parliament when they will just elect another lot from the psychopathic death cult? We need to get rid of the corporation.”

Outdoors and Freedom won about 0.1% of the party vote in the 2020 election, around the same results as another party now part of the umbrella group, Vision NZ, which is led by Tamaki’s wife, Hannah. Advance NZ, the anti-vaccine party led by Jami-Lee Ross and Billy Te Kahika, now deregistered, won 1% in 2020.

In the Tauranga byelection in June last year, Grey won 4.7% of the vote, with Andrew Hollis of the New Nation Party, another of the Freedoms NZ umbrella group, won 1.3%.

Tamaki revealed the umbrella party would also be joined by the unregistered parties Rock the Vote, which contested the local elections, and a group called “Yes Aotearoa New Zealand”. Freedoms NZ was announced formally registered with the Electoral Commission in February.