May 4, 2023

Bangkok, Thailand – As Thais celebrated the Songkran festival last month by soaking each other in a barrage of water fights, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha was hoping the occasion would help rescue his lacklustre campaign for re-election.

Donning a bright Hawaiian shirt and armed with a massive blue water gun Prayuth, the army chief-turned-politician who overthrew Yingluck Shinawatra’s government in a 2014 coup, made a surprise appearance at Bangkok’s Khao San Road, joining startled revellers in the traditional water fights that mark the festival.

Thailand’s May 14 elections will determine the Southeast Asian country’s political and foreign policy over the next few years, as the quasi-military government faces growing domestic discontent, security pressures from neighbouring Myanmar and increasing rivalry between the United States and China.

Read more:

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/4/time-for-a-new-way-thais-look-for-change-as-election-nears