A razor-thin majority in the House may pose a challenge to a new coalition government expected to be led by the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP), though this should not be a risk factor contributing to its downfall, according to two former government chief whips.
They believe the government will be well-equipped to deal with the matter and coalition parties will do their best to cooperate because no one wants another election so soon.
Another challenge lying in wait is the budget bill which will be the first test of the new coalition government's unity and solidarity. The bill will be deliberated by the House of Representatives from next month until September.
However, one academic predicted a coalition government with a marginal majority would struggle to function, predicting the House could be dissolved by the end of this year and a fresh election called.
The PPRP is expected to beat the Pheu Thai Party in the race to form a new coalition government with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha staying on as prime minister after the Election Commission (EC) endorsed 99% of the 500 MPs on Wednesday.
A coalition government formed under the PPRP will comprise up to 20 parties, the largest number brought together in a governing coalition in Thai political history, including small parties which were given one party-list seat each.
The Pheu Thai-led alliance's hope of forming a coalition government took a blow after the EC endorsed 149 party-list MPs and also approved all 349 constituency MPs with a formula that awarded parties likely to support the military.
The poll agency's decision to award one party-list seat to 11 small parties effectively reduced the number of seats garnered by the Pheu Thai-led bloc to 245, while the PPRP-led alliance is expected to muster 253 seats, including those of the small parties which were awarded one party-list seat each, political analysts said.
However, without a decisive majority, a coalition government formed under the PPRP would struggle to function and may be short-lived. It would be plagued with instability and hard bargaining among coalition parties could end up in a House dissolution, observers said.
The new government needs at least 270 House seats to ensure its stability. One way to achieve this is to draw ''cobra'' MPs from the Pheu Thai-led bloc. The term refers to renegade politicians who jump ship and vote in favour of the opposing side. Sources said the PPRP has so far gathered the support of at least 20 turncoats from the Pheu Thai-led alliance.
Witthaya Kaewparadai, a former Democrat chief whip, said he saw the positive aspect of the small majority. ''MPs must be alert and careful. They cannot afford to skip meetings. Whips will try as hard as they can to keep MPs under control. On another front, the government will also try to persuade MPs from the opposition to join its ranks to boost its stability,'' Mr Witthaya said, adding most MPs wanted to be part of the government rather than sitting on the opposition bench.
Most importantly, no MPs want the House to be dissolved. Therefore, government MPs must try their best to be cooperative and attend meetings, he said. If legislation cannot pass, the House will be dissolved and a fresh election will follow, and the MPs may not be re-elected, Mr Witthaya said.
''The government should have at least 260 MPs in the House. Each government whip must be assigned to control MPs to ensure they are not absent from meetings. The prime minister must also lay down tough rules for MPs to attend every meeting. When I worked as a whip in the Democrat-led government, each whip was assigned to control seven MPs,'' Mr Witthaya said.
Udomdej Rattanasatien, a former government chief whip under Pheu Thai, said if the PPRP can form a government, it may come up with stringent measures to ensure MPs do not skip meetings. One measure is to increase the number of whips to control the MPs, he said.
''With a marginal majority, the new government will have to keep a close tabs on its MPs. The MPs themselves are also afraid of a House dissolution and do not want a fresh election. As a result, the new government should not have problems pushing for passage of legislation, Mr Udomdej said.
Chaiyan Chaiyaporn, a political science scholar at Chulalongkorn University, said a 250-260 seat line-up will make life difficult for the coalition government, especially when it comes to pushing key legislation such as the budget bill.
''With a marginal majority, the government eventually may have to dissolve the House by the end of this year or early next year, and a fresh election will follow. This will upset the MPs who still do not want an election,'' Mr Chaiyan said.
However, he believed the new government will cope, adding that the task of running the country also rests with the cabinet, not the parliament alone.
He added the PPRP will have to pressure the Democrat and Bhumjaithai parties to join the PPRP-led alliance. The two parties will play a more significant role in setting up a PPRP-led coalition government than the small parties, he said. How these two parties can be persuaded to join the PPRP-led alliance remains to be seen, Mr Chaiyan said.
Somchai Swangkarn, a former whip of the National Legislative Assembly, said a small majority should not be a major concern. In 1975, the Social Action Party led by the late MR Kukrit Pramoj formed a government and managed to function despite holding a minority of only 18 House seats, Mr Somchai said.
The most important thing is for the government to run the country in a way that wins recognition from the public, he said. The Pheu Thai-led government which held a clear majority of 300 seats still met its doom after it tried to push an amnesty bill which led to mass protests and culminated in the 2014 coup, Mr Somchai said.
He said the government will table a budget bill to parliament for its first and second readings between June and July. A third reading will begin in September, Mr Somchai said, adding the bill should get through parliament without any problem.
Somkid Chuakong, an ex-Pheu Thai MP for Ubon Ratchathani, said Pheu Thai will have to come to terms with the prospect of it sitting on the opposition bench.
''Right now, the Prayut regime is doing all it can to stay on in government. If so, Pheu Thai and the pro-democracy camp must be ready to work to scrutinise its work."
