Don't bother looking at us

The open bickering between the ruling Pheu Thai Party and its largest coalition partner, Bhumjaithai, has prompted an opposition party to go on the defensive, according to observers.

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Since forming the coalition more than two years ago, Pheu Thai and Bhumjaithai have never been through a rougher patch, relationship-wise.

The two parties have worked out their occasional differences over the years; from Bhumjaithai initiating cannabis legalisation, which Pheu Thai tried unsuccessfully to reverse during Srettha Thavisin's administration; the double majority rule in the referendum law, which Pheu Thai wanted to change to a single majority requirement, but Bhumjaithai was pressing to retain; to the latest casino legalisation bill, which Pheu Thai is pushing hard, but which has run into opposition from Bhumjaithai.

The squabbling had put the two parties' relationship to the test, as had the allegations of land encroachments by leaders of the two parties. The observers said the allegations were rumoured to have been dug up by elements connected to the two parties in a punch-trading move to keep either one from gaining more political bargaining power over the other.

Despite both parties playing down the love-hate relationship between them, speculation among pundits that the government, in its current form, may not serve out its four-year term has intensified.