Chaos erupted in the Thai parliament on Thursday night (11 December) after a joint sitting of MPs and senators voted to reject a proposal that future constitutional amendments be approved by a simple majority in the joint sitting, opting instead to revert to requiring support from at least one-third of senators.

Parliament has been debating in its second reading a bill proposing amendments to the 2017 Constitution concerning the amendment process and the formation of a constitutional drafting committee. The bill was returned to parliament from an ad hoc committee after two bills, proposed by Bhumjaithai and the People’s Party, passed in their first readings in October.

Parliament spent Wednesday and Thursday (10 – 11 December) going through the bill section by section. On Thursday night (11 December), it voted 312 to 290 to reject the ad hoc committee’s proposal to amend Section 256/28 so that future amendments can be approved by a simple majority in a joint sitting. Instead, it voted to revert to the original requirement that any amendments must be supported by at least one-third of senators to pass.

It has been noted that several Bhumjaithai MPs join the vote to reject the committee’s proposal.

Since there were less than 30 votes between for and against, People’s Party leader Nattapong Ruengpanyawut invoked parliament's Rule of Procedure to call for a new vote by roll call. The vote has ended and the result is being counted.

In response to the vote, several local media reported, the People’s Party is preparing to file a no-confidence motion and party leaders have been summoning MPs to sign the motion.

Meanwhile, the Pheu Thai Party has called an urgent MP meeting tomorrow morning (12 December).

The result of the vote did not change after the second round. People's Party MP and chair of the ad hoc committee Nattawut Buapratum then said that the committee would like to temporarily withdraw the bill for further adjustments. 

After the bill is withdrawn, parliament continued to deliberate motions for parliament to request the Cabinet to conduct a referendum on constitutional amendments.

At around 22.00, several news outlets reported that Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has submitted a draft royal decree to the King requesting dissolution of the House of Representatives. Matichon Online reported that Bhumjaithai MP Paradorn Prissananantakul told People's Party MPs that senators will reject the bill in its third reading if parliament vote to take away their power.

"We have tried our best to negotiate with the senators, but we cannot order them to cut their own power," he said.

Paradorn alleged that Anutin decided to request House dissolution because the People's Party refused to vote to keep the Senate's voting power and told him that it will file a no-confidence motion if it lose the vote.

Anutin, meanwhile, posted on his Facebook profile page that he is "returning power to the people."

If the House is dissolved, a general election must be held between 45 - 60 days after the dissolution.