Bangkok, Thailand,May 14,2023: Voters in Thailand are heading to the polls on Sunday to elect a new parliament in what analysts have called the country’s “most pivotal election to date”.
The poll is the first in the Southeast Asian country since a youth-led uprising in 2020 that broke long-held taboos by calling for curbs on the powers of King Maha Vajiralongkorn, as well as an end to a near-decade of military-backed rule.
The vote on Sunday is expected to deliver a strong mandate for change, with public opinion surveys consistently predicting a majority for the main opposition Pheu Thai Party and the youth-led Move Forward Party (MFP).
But fears remain that the royalist-military establishment may seek to cling to power. In the past 20 years, the military has staged two coups while the courts have brought down three prime ministers and dissolved several opposition parties.
