Seri Ruam Thai Party leader Pol Gen Sereepisuth Temeeyaves is seen during a campaign visit to Bangkok’s Bang Rak district on Jan 22. (Photo: Seri Ruam Thai Party)

For the Seri Ruam Thai (SRT) Party, Pol Gen Sereepisuth Temeeyaves – the party leader and its prime ministerial candidate – is pushing a nationalist agenda at full throttle in the final stretch of its election campaign.

Though his party is small, Pol Gen Sereepisuth has drawn attention with his bold declarations, openly calling for the formation of an alliance that would be prepared to deploy a military force as far as Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital, should his party join the government.

Only after such a decisive action, he argues, should negotiations begin to establish jointly managed border zones for the mutual benefit of both Thailand and Cambodia. As a former national police chief, his proposals for police reform are no less striking and have emerged as a central pillar of his campaign.

Pol Gen Sereepisuth, now in his golden years at 77 years old, has been elected to parliament several times.

He is currently promoting 12 flagship policies to voters during this campaign period.

These include increased national defence, police reform "for the people", free education and the cancellation of student loan debt, a universal citizen pension of 3,000 baht per month, disability allowances of 3,000 baht per month, a drug-free national agenda, the eradication of corruption and criminal influence, nationwide free healthcare with a single national ID card, land allocation for housing and livelihoods, the confiscation of weapons to "stop deaths", a dam for agriculture and flood and drought prevention and raising the retirement age for civil servants to 65 years old.

Defence agenda

Pol Gen Sereepisuth has consistently highlighted national defence as his primary selling point.

He has warned that conflict along the Cambodian border differs from wars in Europe, describing it as jungle warfare with a real possibility of it breaking out for a third time.

Speaking from his own experience years ago fighting communist insurgents, he said that any confrontation with Cambodia would require the military advancing all the way to Phnom Penh to definitively resolve the issue.

Otherwise, he argued, clashes would recur, leading to further Thai military casualties and prolonged anxiety among civilians.

"We must reclaim everything – Battambang, Siem Reap, Koh Kong – because these were once our territories," Pol Gen Sereepisuth said.

"The United States can conduct operations in Venezuela; we can do the same. Once the situation is halted, we can decide what to do next and formalise agreements – for example, requiring Cambodia to pull back from the border by 1 to 1.5 kilometres. After that withdrawal, we could negotiate joint-use areas, perhaps one province per area."

Another core issue in his platform is police reform.

Pol Gen Sereepisuth criticised the most recent amendment to the Police Act in 2022, arguing that despite the reforms, the appointment of Pol Gen Torsak Sukvimol as national police chief in 2023 demonstrated a failure of the process.

He claimed the appointee lacked management capability, rose too rapidly through the ranks and faced questions related to gambling and corruption cases – clear signs, in his view, that reform had not worked.

True reform, he insisted, must begin with people. Police officers must be properly educated to solve citizens’ problems effectively.

Police background

He explained that non-commissioned officers are currently recruited with only a high school certificate, undergo short training and earn a starting salary of about 15,000 baht per month – conditions he described as insufficient to ensure professionalism.

Pol Gen Sereepisuth proposed requiring at least a bachelor’s degree in law, political science or other specialised fields so officers would possess the knowledge needed to serve the public.

For commissioned officers, he suggested opening recruitment to candidates with a legal qualification or a master’s degree.

With qualifications on par with judges and prosecutors, police salaries could be raised to comparable levels, he said.

With this level of education, he argued, the police would be far better equipped to assist the public.

Regarding the Police Cadet Academy, Pol Gen Sereepisuth said it is unnecessary for officers to attend military preparatory schools or spend five years at the academy, calling it a waste of the national budget.

He proposed a new model in which candidates would first complete a bachelor’s degree, then undergo two years of specialised training at the academy, tailored to operational needs such as law, technology, computer science or other relevant fields reflecting modern society and evolving crime patterns.

Graduates would receive a master’s degree, he said.

"Only in this way," he said, "will we have quality police officers".

Politically, Pol Gen Sereepisuth said he does not intend to divide into camps or automatically align with any side if elected.

However, if his party were to join a governing coalition, he expressed a desire to serve as deputy prime minister overseeing the Royal Thai Police, or as defence minister to address Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen, believed to be the ultimate power behind the government in Phnom Penh, and border issues "in a systematic and decisive manner".

Off social media

Pol Gen Sereepisuth acknowledged that he does not expect to win many seats, having fielded constituency candidates in just 21 districts nationwide.

He conceded that vote-buying remains widespread and said he is relying primarily on party-list seats.

"I admit that this time I have no momentum on social media at all," Pol Gen Sereepisuth said. "I hope the trend improves as election day approaches. For now, all I can do is keep campaigning. But we are not discouraged. I want to tell undecided voters that if you choose the same old parties, nothing will change. If you choose our party, real and positive change will happen – without a doubt."