Thailand’s general election began on Sunday, with opposition groups expected to defeat the administration of army-backed Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha.
AFP correspondents watched polls open at 8:00 a.m. (0100 GMT) following a campaign that played out as a conflict between a young population hungry for change and the conventional, royalist elite.
A preliminary vote tally in Thailand’s general election on Sunday showed the country’s progressive opposition, the Pheu Thai party, in an early lead.
The Pheu Thai Party, led by Thaksin Shinawatra’s daughter, was leading with 6.45% of eligible votes counted by 1333 GMT.
According to the preliminary findings of the Election Commission, another opposition party, Move Forward, came in second place in the polls.
After nearly a decade, the national election was predicted to depose Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha’s reigning conservative military-backed regime.
But who heads the next government won’t be decided by Sunday’s vote alone. The prime minister will be selected in July in a joint session of the House and the 250-seat Senate, which was appointed by the junta.
Preliminary results are expected by late evening, although the final number of seats for each party will not be officially confirmed for several weeks.
