KANTHARALAK, Thailand ¨C Thai lawmaker Phumin Leethiraprasert has switched party allegiances ahead of the country¡¯s Feb. 8 election, aiming to show voters he can make tough decisions to help border communities scarred by clashes with neighboring Cambodia.
¡°I am not running for Pheu Thai this time around because of the border conflict,¡± said Phumin, 62, referring to the ?party of billionaire former premier Thaksin Shinawatra that dominated swathes of Thailand¡¯s mainly agrarian northeast for decades.
Nationalist sentiment has surged ?across Southeast ?Asia¡¯s second largest economy after a perception that the Pheu Thai-led administration¡¯s handling of a border ?crisis led to the worst fighting with Cambodia in decades, killing 149 people.
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