Thailand elections: vote-counting begins after calm polling day with King Vajiralongkorn urging subjects to back ‘good people’
- Thai election officials have begun counting votes with unofficial results expected by about 8pm local time. There are 51.2 million registered voters in the country, although some 2.2 million people cast early ballots last weekend
- Exit poll shows the Pheu Thai Party linked to Thaksin Shinawatra winning the most seats, but not enough to form a government
Thai election officials have begun counting votes in Sunday’s closely watched general election after polls closed at 5pm local time, with unofficial results expected within three hours.
The election commission earlier projected that around 80 per cent of the 51.2 million registered voters cast their vote in 92,320 polling stations across the country’s 77 provinces.
The polls are Thailand’s sixth in two decades, and like in the previous five elections, there are two major blocs vying for power – the royal military establishment and the rural-backed populist movement linked to the billionaire former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Exit poll data released by news channel Thai PBS after polling closed showed the Pheu Thai Party linked to Thaksin winning the most seats – 163 out of 500 parliamentary seats. That threshold, however, is not enough to form a government.
Their chief rival, the military-backed Palang Pracharat, is projected to come in second with 96 seats.
Another poll by Dusit University showed Pheu Thai winning 173 seats and Palang Pracharat winning 96 seats.