Polling opens in Thai general election
The Hindu
Thailand votes amid political instability, with no clear majority expected, prompting anticipated coalition negotiations post-election results.
Voting opened Sunday (February 8, 2026) in a Thai general election pitting the popular reformists who came first last time against the conservative who ended up as Prime Minister, with ex-leader Thaksin Shinawatra looming large from his prison cell.
The Southeast Asian nation's next government will need to reckon with a longstanding border dispute with Cambodia that erupted into deadly fighting twice last year.
"We need a strong leader who can protect our sovereignty," said Yuernyong Loonboot, 64, the first voter to cast his ballot at a polling station in Buriram, the hometown of incumbent Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.
"Living here, the border conflict has made me anxious. War was never something we used to think about."
Economic growth is anaemic, with the tourism sector vital but arrivals yet to return to their pre-Covid highs, and multibillion-dollar transnational cyberscam networks operate from several neighbouring countries.
No party is forecast to win an outright majority, and coalition negotiations are expected to follow the results.
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