Thais yesterday voted in an election that could see pro-democracy opposition parties oust the conservative military-backed government of Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha after almost a decade in power.
Voters are tipped to deliver a resounding defeat to former army chief and coup leader Prayuth after a campaign that played out as a clash between a young generation yearning for change and the traditionalist, royalist establishment.
The main opposition Pheu Thai Party, fronted by the daughter of billionaire former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was ahead in final opinion polls.
Photo: AFP
Yet in a kingdom where victory at the ballot box has often been trumped by coups and court orders, there are fears the military could seek to cling on, raising the prospect of fresh instability.
After casting her ballot in Bangkok, Pheu Thai’s main candidate, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, showed no signs of doubt.
“Today is going to be a good day. I have very positive energy about it,” the 36-year-old told reporters, smiling broadly.
Voting began at 8am at 95,000 polling stations across the nation.
The Thai Election Commission projects turnout of more than 80 percent, with polls to close at 5pm and unofficial results expected at about 10pm, commission Chairman Ittiporn Boonpracong said.
A turnout of 90 percent in the early round of voting on May 7 points to an electorate looking for change, but the opposition faces an uphill battle to secure power, thanks to the junta-scripted 2017 constitution.
The new prime minister is to be chosen jointly by the 500 elected lawmakers and 250 senate members appointed by Prayuth’s junta — stacking the deck in the army’s favor.
In the controversial last election in 2019, Prayuth rode senate support to become prime minister at the head of a complex multi-party coalition.
The election is the first since major youth-led pro-democracy protests erupted across Bangkok in 2020 with demands to curb the power and spending of Thailand’s king. The demonstrations petered out as COVID-19 curbs were imposed and dozens of leaders were arrested, but their energy has fueled growing support for the more radical opposition Move Forward Party (MFP).
As he arrived to vote in Bangkok, MFP leader Pita Limjaroenrat, 42, said he expected a “historic turnout.”
“Younger generations these days care about their rights and they will come out to vote,” he said.
While the MFP is looking for support from millennial and Gen Z voters — who make up nearly half the 52 million-strong electorate — Pheu Thai’s base is in the rural northeast where voters are still grateful for the welfare policies implemented by Thaksin in the early 2000s.
Prayuth also urged voters to turn out in large numbers as he cast his ballot on Sunday.
The former general has made an unashamedly nationalist pitch to older voters, painting himself as the only candidate capable of saving Thailand from chaos and ruin.
However, he has lagged badly in the polls, blamed for a sputtering economy and feeble recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, which battered the kingdom’s crucial tourism industry.
Voter Pakorn Adulpan, 85, said he was impressed by the quality of this year’s contest.
“I am very hopeful because there is strong competition between many talented candidates, compared to the elections in the past,” he said.
Additional reporting by Reuters
ANGER: A video shared online showed residents in a neighborhood confronting the national security minister, attempting to drag her toward floodwaters Argentina’s port city of Bahia Blanca has been “destroyed” after being pummeled by a year’s worth of rain in a matter of hours, killing 13 and driving hundreds from their homes, authorities said on Saturday. Two young girls — reportedly aged four and one — were missing after possibly being swept away by floodwaters in the wake of Friday’s storm. The deluge left hospital rooms underwater, turned neighborhoods into islands and cut electricity to swaths of the city. Argentine Minister of National Security Patricia Bullrich said Bahia Blanca was “destroyed.” The death toll rose to 13 on Saturday, up from 10 on Friday, authorities
Two daughters of an Argentine mountaineer who died on an icy peak 40 years ago have retrieved his backpack from the spot — finding camera film inside that allowed them a glimpse of some of his final experiences. Guillermo Vieiro was 44 when he died in 1985 — as did his climbing partner — while descending Argentina’s Tupungato lava dome, one of the highest peaks in the Americas. Last year, his backpack was spotted on a slope by mountaineer Gabriela Cavallaro, who examined it and contacted Vieiro’s daughters Guadalupe, 40, and Azul, 44. Last month, the three set out with four other guides
Local officials from Russia’s ruling party have caused controversy by presenting mothers of soldiers killed in Ukraine with gifts of meat grinders, an appliance widely used to describe Russia’s brutal tactics on the front line. The United Russia party in the northern Murmansk region posted photographs on social media showing officials smiling as they visited bereaved mothers with gifts of flowers and boxed meat grinders for International Women’s Day on Saturday, which is widely celebrated in Russia. The post included a message thanking the “dear moms” for their “strength of spirit and the love you put into bringing up your sons.” It
DISASTROUS VISIT: The talks in Saudi Arabia come after an altercation at the White House that led to the Ukrainian president leaving without signing a minerals deal Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was due to arrive in Saudi Arabia yesterday, a day ahead of crucial talks between Ukrainian and US officials on ending the war with Russia. Highly anticipated negotiations today on resolving the three-year conflict would see US and Ukrainian officials meet for the first time since Zelenskiy’s disastrous White House visit last month. Zelenskiy yesterday said that he would meet Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the nation’s de facto leader, after which his team “will stay for a meeting on Tuesday with the American team.” At the talks in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, US
RSS