As Thailand heads to the poll on March 24 for the first time in nearly eight years, almost five of them under Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha after his 2014 military coup, the political stakes have never been higher.

The vote itself will not resolve a long-lasting tension in this predominantly Buddhist kingdom of 70 million between de facto military rule and the prospects for the emergence of a stable democracy.

asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/Election-highlights-crisis-of-Thai-junta-rule