Voters in Thailand were heading to the polls on Sunday in an election touted as a pivotal chance for change, eight years after incumbent Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha first came to power in a 2014 coup. Know more:
BANGKOK — Voters in Thailand were heading to the polls on Sunday in an election touted as a pivotal chance for change, eight years after incumbent Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha first came to power in a 2014 coup. He is now running against the daughter of the politician who is the military’s top nemesis.
Pheu Thai won the most seats in the last election in 2019, but its archrival, the military-backed Palang Pracharath Party, succeeded in cobbling together a coalition with Prayuth as prime minister. It relied on unanimous support from the Senate, whose members share the military’s conservative outlook and were appointed by the military government after Prayuth’s coup.
“The increased youth vote and general awareness of the damage caused by military rule are key factors likely to determine the results of this election,” said Tyrell Haberkorn, a Thai studies specialist at the University of Wisconsin. “After nine years of military rule, people are ready for a change, even those who were not interested in rocking the boat before.”
“I think the conservative-royalist side, underpinning the military, the monarchy, their backs are against the wall. Change is coming and they have to find a way to deal with it,” said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University.
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