Voters in Thailand will head to the polls on Sunday amid deep political uncertainty, with the country having cycled through three prime ministers in as many years, and amid a tenuous truce with Cambodia following border clashes that killed 149 people.The snap polls pit Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s Bhumjaithai party, backed by Thailand’s royalist conservative establishment, against the progressive youth-led People’s Party.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listThe People’s Party is the successor to a group that won the last election but was blocked from power and dissolved by the courts over its proposals to reform the country’s powerful monarchy.Pheu Thai – which has dominated Thai politics for a quarter century – is also attempting a comeback after a bruising period that saw two prime ministers from the party removed by the courts and its founder Thaksin Shinawatra jailed late last year.The vote on Sunday is seen as a test of whether Thailand’s long-running cycle of coups, street protests and court interventions can be broken, or whether the paralysis will deepen.Here’s what you need to know about the pivotal election:When are the elections?Voting will take place on Sunday, February 8.About 53 million people in the kingdom of 71 million are eligible to vote.The 500-seat House of Representatives will be filled through a mixed system: 400 constituency seats elected by a first-past-the-post system, and 100 seats allocated through proportional representation or on a party-list basis.The newly elected lower house will then select the next prime minister. Unlike in 2019 and 2023, the appointed Senate, which is dominated by conservative lawmakers, will have no role in choosing the prime minister. Advertisement A candidate requires 251 votes in the House to take office as prime minister.Voters will receive three ballot papers: two for the parliamentary election and one for a referendum on whe …
