Members of the House of Representatives and Senate of Thailand on June 5 voted for Prayut Chan-o-cha of the Palang Pracharath Party to be the 29^th prime minister of the country.

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha leaving Government House in Bangkok yesterday (Photo: The Straits Times)

After more than 10 hours of debate among MPs and senators, Prayut received a total of 500 votes, returning as PM for a second term after a five-year term since the 2014 coup.

His opponent Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, leader of the Future Forward Party, won 244 votes.

At the voting, three MPs abstained and one was on sick leave.

As such, Thailand’s parliament completed its election of the new PM at the first joint meeting of both the upper and lower houses. To win, a candidate must garner a minimum of 376 votes at the meeting.

The result will be submitted to the king for ratification and the new cabinet is expected to be announced this month.

The general election in Thailand, the first since the military coup in 2014, took place on March 24 with more than 50 million people eligible to vote.

(Source: VNA)