Chai Chidchob has been the President of the National Assembly of Thailand and the Speaker of the House of Representatives

House of Representatives of Thailand

The House of Representatives of the Kingdom of Thailand is the lower house of the National Assembly of Thailand, the legislative branch of the Thai Government. The system of government of Thailand is that of a Constitutional Monarchy and a Parliamentary Democracy. The system of the Thai...

 since May 15, 2008. He began his career in politics by being appointed as a kamnan

Kamnan

A kamnan is a Thai governing official at the tambon level. It is usually translated as "subdistrict headman".The position of a kamnan was introduced with the thesaphiban administrative reforms at the end of the 19th century, first enacted in 1892. On of the village elders of the muban...

 in Buri Ram Province and became known by many locals as "Kamnan Chai".

His first experience in national politics began in 1957. Chai contested a seat as a Democrat Party

Democrat Party (Thailand)

The Democrat Party is Thailand's oldest political party and was the main coalition government party of the 23rd House of Representatives of Thailand. The Democrat Party's current leader is Abhisit Vejjajiva, incumbent opposition leader and former Prime Minister. The party upholds a conservative...

 candidate in Surin

Surin, Thailand

Surin is a town in Thailand, capital of Surin province. It is the site of the annual Surin Elephant Round-up. Surin has many farangs living within its Centre and Suburbs.-Etymology:...

, but failed to get elected. In 1969, he ran in Buri Ram as an independent candidate and managed to win. He was then re-elected many times. In 2007

Thai general election, 2007

The 2007 Thai general elections were held on 23 December. This was the first legislative election after the Council for National Security, a military junta, had overthrown Thailand's elected government and abrogated the constitution on September 19, 2006. The junta had canceled general elections...

 Chai was elected to the National Assembly of Thailand

National Assembly of Thailand

The National Assembly of Thailand or the Parliament of Thailand is the legislative branch of the government of Thailand. The National Assembly of Thailand is a bicameral body, consisting of two chambers: the upper house, , and the lower house,...

 as a People's Power Party

People's Power Party (Thailand)

The People's Power Party was a Thai political party founded on November 9, 1998 by Police Lieutenant Colonel Garn Tienkaew. The party leader was Somchai Wongsawat, the Party Secretary General was Surapong Suebwonglee, and the Party Spokesperson was Kuthep Saikrajarng...

 representative, however, he was previously affiliated with many political parties, including Samakkhitham, Chart Thai Party

Chart Thai Party

Thai Nation Party , also known as Chart Thai, was a conservative political party in Thailand. It was dissolved by the Constitutional Court of Thailand on December 2, 2008, along with the People's Power Party and the Matchima party, for having violated electoral laws in the Thai general election, 2007...

, and Thai Rak Thai

Thai Rak Thai

The Thai Rak Thai Party was a Thai political party that was officially banned on May 30, 2007, by the Constitutional Court of Thailand due to violations of electoral laws during the 2006 legislative elections. From 2001 to 2006, it was the ruling party under Prime Minister and its founder Thaksin...

.

He is married to La-ong and they have five sons and one daughter. One of Chai's sons is Newin Chidchob, a powerful politician in the lower northeastern region. The PPP nomination of Chai as the House Speaker is partly credited to Newin. He is a great admirer of Israeli politician and soldier Moshe Dayan

Moshe Dayan

Moshe Dayan was an Israeli military leader and politician. The fourth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces , he became a fighting symbol to the world of the new State of Israel...

, sometimes even calling himself "Chai Moshe".