This year, for the first time, candidates in different constituencies will run with different numbers even though they are from the same party. In previous elections, political parties would run nationally using a single number.

Who gave Thailand’s ex-PM Yingluck Shinawatra a Cambodian passport?

For example, in previous elections, party’s were assigned a number that applied on ballots nationwide. If Pheu Chart, for example, was assigned “No. 2”, all its candidates would also be designated with that number on the ballots across the country. It provided consistency and coherence and made it easier to voters to remember their preferred candidates.

This year, that system no longer applies. Candidates from the same party may be designated with different numbers. In light of this, the candidates from Pheu Chart changing their names suggests they hope voters will simply pick the candidate called Yingluck or Thaksin.

“Changing the name to run in an election might be a tactical way to deal with the Election Commission rules,” said Yingcheep Atchanont, founder of legal watchdog website iLaw.

Over the next six weeks, the EC will oversee whether candidates and political parties adhere to regulations, including restrictions on the use of social media as a campaigning tool; a prohibition on the use of images of those unrelated to the party; a ban on candidates hosting entertainment events; and new financial limits for individual candidates and parties. Violating any of these could result in the dissolution of the offending party and a political ban for candidates.

Thaksin and Yingluck had their stints as prime minister ended by military coups in 2006 and 2014, respectively. The upcoming polls will be another test of their popularity, in a race labelled by critics as the junta’s attempt at justifying its second term in power after the Pheu Thai party had won every election in Thailand since 2001.

Prayuth’s response to smog crisis reveals limits of his leadership

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who has been in power for almost five years, has vowed to stay on with full authority until a new government is installed. Last week he received an “invitation” by the Phalang Pracharat Party to be its prime ministerial candidate, a move seen as advantageous for the pro-junta party.

Still, many candidates are refusing to be disheartened, with some seeking a spot of spiritual backing before the campaign. Pheu Thai’s candidate for prime minister, Sudarat Keyuraphan, stopped by the Bangkok City Pillar Shrine on Monday – only to bump into Phalang Pracharat leader Uttama Savanayana, with the two just missing Democrats Party leader and former premier Abhisit Vejjajiva.

Elsewhere, Thaksin’s son Panthongtae – also known as Oak – led candidates in prayer at the Khon Kaen Pillar Shrine in the country’s northeast. Paying respect at the shrine and other holy places such as the Temple of the Emerald Buddha in Bangkok is believed to help politicians win more seats in the surrounding area.

Sudarat also went to pray at the Wat Chana Songkram temple, the name of which aptly translates to “winning a battle”. Yingluck reportedly prayed there before her landslide victory in 2011 saw her become Thailand’s 28th prime minister.

But the veteran Sudarat might need more than spiritual backing in the face of government intimidation. Last month, she confronted two undercover security officers who had been following her from morning to evening on a visit to the northern province of Chiang Rai. In a video clip, she can be seen crossing the street with her entourage before asking the officers, “Who sent you?”

Future Forward, a new political party founded by auto-parts scion Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit with an anti-junta platform, has also complained about the new restrictions on social media and electronic campaigning.

Facebook targets fake news ahead of Asia’s election season

“Our candidates have to register and give consent to the EC to watch their social media and online activities when there is already the Computer Crime Act,” party spokesperson Pannika Wanich said.

“There is also the party campaign budget limit of 35 million baht (US$1.1 million), which makes it impossible [to fund] any national-level political activities.”

Atchanon from watchdog iLaw said the rules “put everyone on edge because they have to be very careful how to interpret them so as not to violate them”.

“For example, do candidates have to report to the EC the websites set up by their supporters?” he said. “What if they are not aware of them? Will they be ruled as withholding information and failing to comply with the requirements?”

Phalang Pracharat is also going through certain difficulties. This week, at least three of its campaign posters in Bangkok were burned down at night. Deputy spokesman Thanakorn Wangbunkongchana said those responsible needed to “stop creating a bad atmosphere during the election”.

The party ran into other difficulties last month during a rally in the northeastern province of Maha Sarakham, a Pheu Thai stronghold. According to reports, as soon as the topics of Thaksin, Yingluck, and the red-shirt movement – rural supporters of Thaksin and dissidents of the military rule formed after the 2006 coup – were brought up, hundreds got up and left.

A female candidate on the stage was heard in a viral video clip shouting, “Wait, everybody, wait. Please don’t go. I beg you.”

As Pheu Thai’s Prayut Siripanich, a former MP for Maha Sarakham, told local media after the event: “Only an election outcome will tell.”