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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Rebecca Ratcliffe in Udon Thani

The pro-democracy People’s party is leading the polls, but Thailand has been here before

People's Party leader and prime ministerial candidate Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut poses on stage with fellow party members at a rally ahead of the general election in Bangkok
People's Party leader and prime ministerial candidate Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut poses on stage with fellow party members at a rally ahead of the general election in Bangkok Photograph: Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP/Getty Images

A flood of gifts are passed by adoring fans to 38-year-old Thai politician Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut. Supporters, many of them young students, hand over orange garlands, plastic oranges on string, fresh orange fruit, a bunch of bananas and some corn on the cob.

The trademark orange colour is one of the few things that has remained constant for his youthful, pro-reform party, which has been dissolved twice by Thailand’s constitutional court, and forced to regroup under new names and new leaders.

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