BANGKOK – Thais began casting ballots today in a tightly contested election that could result in a change of government for the first time in nearly a decade.
Some 52 million voters – including 3.3 million first-time voters aged 18 to 22 – are eligible to cast ballots at 94,775 polling stations nationwide.
Thais began queuing before polling stations opened 8am local time today (9am Malaysia time) after a months-long campaign. Voting will end at 5pm today.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who is the United Thai Nation (UTN) party’s prime ministerial candidate, was among those who cast their ballot at a polling station in Bangkok at around 9.10am local time.
“I am glad to exercise my right. I hope eligible voters will come out and vote today,” he told reporters after voting .
The 69-year-old Prayut faces an uphill battle getting a fresh mandate in the vote, with opposition parties including Pheu Thai and the Move Forward Party favourites based on opinion polls.
Despite facing significant challenges to his leadership, including a hotly disputed election in 2019, mass protests in 2020, and four no-confidence votes in Parliament, Prayut – who initially came to power in a 2014 coup – has managed to remain in office.
Today, voters will elect a new 500-seat House of Representatives for the next four years.
There are 400 seats for winning constituency candidates and 100 party seats allocated on a proportional representation basis.
Thailand’s Election Commission (EC) expects 80% of some 52 million eligible voters to cast their ballots today.
The EC said that it expects to release 95% of unofficial results by 11pm.
The election is the first to take place since the youth-led mass protests of 2020 and only the second since the military coup in 2014 that witnessed the removal of an elected government. – Bernama, May 14, 2023
