Gen Prayut became prime minister in 2014 after leading a coup d’etat to overthrow Ms Yingluck Shinawatra’s democratically elected government.
His military junta ruled Thailand for nearly five years before a general election was held in 2019 under a new constitution written by a military-appointed committee.
At that time, Gen Prayut was the sole prime ministerial candidate of the pro-junta party Palang Pracharat. The party managed to form the government with its political allies, although it was the Pheu Thai Party that had a majority of seats in the Lower House.
Gen Prayut joined the electoral race on Sunday, hoping to stay in power after more than eight years on the job.
On Tuesday, the incumbent prime minister spoke to the media at the Government House and was asked if he will stay in politics. “No comment,” he replied.
Gen Prayut later appeared in a video clip released by UTN. He thanked people for coming out to cast their votes on Sunday and maintained his party’s principles.
“The votes you gave us have warmed our hearts, even though they are not enough to allow us to continue working on everything we have been doing,” he said.
“Our party confirms that we will always maintain our party line and ideology, which is to uphold the nation, religion, monarchy and people, regardless of our status or role. This is a promise.”
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