BANGKOK – For a man who could be disqualified as an MP in a month, Mr Pita Limjaroenrat looks relaxed. The former leader of Thailand’s Move Forward Party (MFP) sees himself as a mere cog in the machinery turning the wheels of political change.

“Parties should die because people don’t vote for them” and not because of judicial systems, he said, but the reality in Thailand has been otherwise. He was speaking to The Straits Times on Dec 22, in an interview at his party’s Bangkok headquarters.