In the 1970s, Chaturon was one of the leaders of the leftist, pro-democracy students movement that initiated the October 1973 popular uprising against military dictatorship.

After the 1976 Thammasat University massacre and return to authoritarian rule, he joined the illegal Communist Party of Thailand.

In June 2013 he returned to political office, again becoming Minister of Education, in Yingluck Shinawatra's cabinet, representing her Pheu Thai Party.

His father Anand Chaisaeng was a prominent liberal politician[1] who served as Member of Parliament representing Chahoengsao Province for four terms.

During his studies at the Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, he became involved in the students' movement that initiated the October 1973 popular uprising against the military dictatorship of Thanom Kittikachorn.

After the Thammasat University massacre of 6 October 1976, he joined the illegal Communist Party of Thailand and hid its camps in the jungle.

He played down his past as a leftist student activist, and instead presented himself as a US-educated, new-generation politician and son of an established MP.

Again, he had to struggle with resistance from the bureaucratic establishment, and again Thaksin transferred him to a new position: In October 2002 he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister, overseeing social affairs.

[5] In 2003 he represented a committee that (unsuccessfully) promoted the idea of making 14 October—the date of the 1973 democratic uprising—a national holiday ("Democracy Day").

[6] In the light of the violent conflict in Thailand's southernmost provinces erupting in 2004, Chaturon proposed a reconciliation and ceasefire plan, calling for an amnesty for Muslim separatists, a reduction in deployed police and the lifting of martial law.

The draft was lauded by local partners in the conflict zone, but immediately rejected by the Prime Minister and his security advisers, who instead chose a repressive approach.

When the new rulers called political parties to nominate a representative to the National Legislative Assembly, Chaturon refused to do so.

Reportedly, Thaksin wanted Chaturon to become one of the movement's leaders, but he could not come out on top, given the network's heterogenous and decentral structure.

[10] After his political ban expired, he was re-appointed Minister of Education during a reshuffle in Yingluck Shinawatra's cabinet in June 2013.

However, Thai Raksa Chart was dissolved by the Constitutional Court prior to election day, thus disqualifying all its candidates.