Thailand's voters overwhelmingly support opposition parties in elections

Voters wait in a queue to cast their ballot at a polling station during the country's general election in Narathiwat, southern Thailand, on May 14, 2023. (Madaree Tohlala/AFP via Getty Images)

In a vote widely seen as a referendum on nine years of military-backed rule that brought the current prime minister and coup leader Prayuth Chan-ocha to power in Thailand, unofficial results show the opposition surging toward victory.

With roughly 99% of votes counted, the Pheu Thai party, the latest iteration of the populist political machine of deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, is projected to have won 141 seats, while the progressive upstart Move Forward Party won 151 — propelled by voters like 38-year-old nurse Tidawan who voted in the northeastern city of Khon Kaen.