Thais filled schoolyards, temples and government offices to vote Sunday in the first election since a 2014 coup, with a high turnout expected among a public who received a cryptic last-minute warning from the Thai king to support “good” leaders to prevent “chaos.”
All television stations repeated the rare statement by King Maha Vajiralongkorn moments before polls opened.
Thailand is a constitutional monarchy and the palace is nominally above the political fray.
But the institution retains unassailable powers and is insulated from criticism by a harsh royal defamation law. Read more