Anutin, a former health and interior minister, made visiting the Isan region, a broad expanse of 20 rural and typically poorer provinces, a key priority since being elevated to national leadership and throughout the election campaign.
Conversely, its rivals were weakened by the political fallout from Cambodia.
Pheu Thai’s management of the issue triggered a backlash that led to Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s ouster over ethics violations, while the People’s Party drew resistance for past efforts to challenge the military’s place in national life.
Anutin’s numbers in parliament are expected to be bolstered by the in-kind conservative party, Klatham, led by Thamanat Prompow, a senior politician once convicted for heroin trafficking and sentenced to six years in an Australian prison in the 1990s.
Klatham has also heavily invested in local politics and grassroots leaders, with policies focused on agriculture and land rights and social welfare.
Its influence has grown quickly as it targeted members of parliament from other parties; 20 MPs from the Palang Pracharath Party formally joined Klatham after being expelled from their old party in late 2024, giving it a large parliamentary bloc going into the 2026 cycle.
It picked up seats across the map, especially in the south and the north.
The Pheu Thai party, which had allocated much of its resources to creating a stronghold in the north, especially in important provinces in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, saw that support ebb.
The People’s Party was on track to win most of the urban seats in the region, while Klatham dominated rural areas.
It has left Pheu Thai with only a couple of regions of power; namely Nakhon Ratchisima in the northeast as well as other patches of Isan, including in the provinces of Loei and Kalasin.
Before the vote, analysts told CNA that if Pheu Thai, long dominated by the Shinawatra family, could not build its influence in the north, its time as a major player in Thai politics could be over.
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