Thailand heads to the polls in tightly-contested election

BANGKOK, Thailand - Thais began casting ballots on Sunday 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 years - cast ballots at 94,775 polling stations nationwide.

Thais began queueing before polling stations opened on Sunday at 8 am (local time) after a months-long campaign. Voting will end at 5pm on the same day.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan o-cha, who is United Thai Nation (UTN) party’s prime ministerial candidate, was among those who cast ballot at a polling station in Bangkok at around 9.10 am (local time).

"I am glad to exercise my right. I hope eligible voters will come out and vote today,” he told the reporters after voting.

The 69-year-old Prayuth faces an uphill battle to seek a fresh mandate in the vote, with opposition parties including Pheu Thai and Move Forward Party being favourites, according to 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, Prayuth - 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.

The Election Commission of Thailand expects 80 per cent of some 52 million eligible voters to cast their ballots today.

The EC said that it expects to release 95 per cent 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