For the first time since a coup strangled the country in 2014, Thailand is set to hold an election which will most likely bring an end to military rule in the area.
Following protests and rumours that the Southeast Asian country will have to move its elections originally scheduled for the 24th of February, the government announced the 24th of March as the new date for its poll.
Almost 52 million citizens are eligible to vote in the country, the first of such activities under the new constitution created by the junta.
According to an article on Thailand’s democracy published by Al Jazeera, “Thailand has struggled to overcome deep-rooted political divisions since 2001, when telecommunications tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra rode to power promising to help the country’s rural poor. Thaksin’s rise electrified Thais who had long felt neglected, but it also sent shockwaves through the old guard centred around Bangkok’s elite who had long dominated the country’s politics.”
Now, the people are looking to support a democratic party that will boost the economy and offer them a chance at better lives.
Last Sunday, Thailand held an early voting exercise where more than 2.2 million Thais showed up to the polls. The day was characterised by long queues and excited chattering as the people looked to exercise their civic duty for the first time in about eight years.
Straits Times reports: “There was an 86.98 per cent turnout” among the 2.6 million early voters registered, Ittiporn Boonpracong, chairman of the Election Commission, said on Monday. Many voting centres had “more than 90 per cent turnout,” he added.
According to Channel NewsAsia, “Hundreds of thousands of voters crowded into schools, parking lots and temples across Thailand on Sunday (Mar 17), eager to cast an early ballot a week before the country’s first election in eight years…People dressed in their work clothes – military uniforms, hospital scrubs and more casual attire – waited patiently to cast their ballot, aided by student helpers.”
“It feels good to use our democratic right,” said 29-year-old Adulwit Sinthusiri, one of the 2.6 million Thais who registered for the one-day-only advanced polling ahead of the March 24 main vote.
Many more citizens who voted during the early vote expressed hope that this will allow the country return to more fruitful times, economically, noting that they are keen for change.
