Thailand’s election campaigns have concluded, with the major parties making their final pitch to large crowds at their final rallies.
Some 52 million Thais are eligible to vote in Sunday’s elections, with opposition parties pledging to end the military’s political dominance and even reform the almighty monarchy – an issue once considered taboo.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, a former army chief who came to power in a 2014 coup and now leads the newly formed United Thai Nation party, made an emotional final plea for votes.
“We must love each other. We are Thailand, we are a family,” he told his supporters.
“If we don’t get elected, I won’t be here… are you going to miss me if I’m not here? Because I will miss you all.”
Opinion polls show that Pheu Thai, the largest opposition party, is likely to win the most seats, as it has in every election since 2001.
Prime minister candidates include Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the youngest daughter of patriarch and former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who received a rock star welcome when she arrived at the party’s closing meeting in Bangkok.
“May 14 will be a historic day. We will change from a dictatorship to a democratically elected government,” Paetongtarn, 36, told thousands of supporters wearing the party’s signature red.
The elections are the first since 2020, when mass protests called for unprecedented reforms to the power of ultra-wealthy King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
Move Forward, led by telegenic Harvard-educated entrepreneur Pita Limjaroenrat, seems to have harnessed much of the energy of that youth-led protest movement, which expressed deep discontent with the old political system.
But in a kingdom that has seen a dozen coups d’état over the past century, there are fears the military could try to stay in power – despite assurances from the current army chief that it would not intervene this time.
Whoever becomes prime minister must have the support not only of the 500 people elected to the lower house, but also of the 250 members of the military-appointed senate.