The opposition Pheu Thai Party has announced its first 21 candidates who will run for seats in Bangkok at the coming general election.
More candidates would be named later for the capital, which now has 33 constituencies, Pheu Thai leader Cholnan Srikaew told reporters on Monday.
The candidates to run in Bangkok include Khattiya Sawasdiphol, the daughter of Maj Gen Khattiya, who was killed by a sniper at the beginning of the 2010 political rallies. and Wan Yubamrung. Ms Khattiya will stand in Chatuchak district and Mr Wan in Nong Kham district.
Dr Cholnan said the party would progressively unveil more candidates for the North, the Northeast, the Central Plains region and the South over the next two to three weeks.
The naming of the candidates shows the main opposition party's readiness to field capable individuals in the election and to serve the country, he said.
At the same time, the Pheu Thai members would be working on the ground to spread word of the party's policies to strengthen both democracy and the economy.
Dr Cholnan said further announcements would be made in due course. There were many people who wanted to run under the party's banner and their respective merits were still being considered.
Pheu Thai was also waiting for the Election Commission to finalise the demarcation of constituency boundaries for the polls, due by March next year at the latest.
That is when the official tenure of the present government ends, although the opposition parties have called on Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to resign early and pave the way for a snap election.
Party representatives stressed the importance of selecting poll candidates for Bangkok, which is the country's administrative centre and politically significant.
Pheu Thai hopes to build on its success in the May 22 Bangkok city council elections, when it captured 19 out of 50 seats, the most votes across the capital's constituencies.
Last month, the party debuted its election candidates for Si Sa Ket during a tour of the province.
