Thais begin voting on whether PM Prayut’s term ends on Wednesday

The “People’s Voice”, a network of academics and media outlets, is holding the mobile phone vote amid a dispute over Prayut’s term limit.

Voting started at 6am on Saturday and will end at midnight on Sunday. The result will be released on Monday.

People can vote by scanning a QR code from participating media outlets. The QR code links to the voting website, where members of the public can vote on whether Gen Prayut “should” or “should not” serve as prime minister longer than eight years.

Critics are demanding that PM Prayut, who also doubles as defence minister, step down before August 24 (Wednesday), when they say his eight-year term as stipulated in the Constitution expires.

Opposition MPs have submitted a petition for the Constitutional Court to rule on when Prayut’s eight-year tenure should expire.

Article 158 of the Constitution states that: “The prime minister shall not hold office for more than eight years in total, whether or not consecutively.”

However, the start date for Prayut’s eight-year tenure is disputed.

Many people insist the eight-year term started when Prayut first assumed the premiership on August 24, 2014 – following the military coup he led in May that year.

Others say his tenure began when the current Constitution came into force on April 6, 2017. A third group views that it should be counted from when Prayut assumed the premiership on June 9, 2019, following the general election in March that year.

The People’s Voice network is composed of academics from eight universities — Thammasat, National Institute of Development Administration (Nida), Srinakharinwirot, Rangsit, Burapha, Chiang Mai, Prince of Songkla, and Ubon Ratchathani University — plus eight online media outlets including Thai Rath TV, Workpoint News, PPTV, The Standard, The Matter, The Momentum, and The Reporters.