Last week, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha launched a new Facebook page, new Twitter and Instagram accounts, and a new website. The move has been met with mixed reactions on social media with some praising and others criticising him. Prayut explained that it was all to “come into closer contact with the public.” Politicians, however, believe he has taken unfair advantage of the situation in the run-up to the general election expected in late February.

Thailand Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha finally gave the clearest hint recently that he was eyeing a public role for himself after the election promised next year.

When the military junta in Thailand, also known as the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), seized power on 22 May, 2014, one of the main reasons it gave for doing so was to address the high levels of corruption plaguing the country under then-Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

Thailand partially eased its ban on political activities, the ruling junta announced Friday, allowing political parties to recruit new members for the first time since 2014 ahead of polls slated for next year.Sweeping restrictions on political parties and campaigns were imposed after the military took power in a coup four years ago.

Last July, The National Legislative Assembly in Thailand voted unanimously to approve, with binding effect, the country’s 20-year National Strategy. The National Strategy overlooks six strategic areas: security, competitiveness enhancement, human resource development, social equality, green growth and rebalancing and public sector development.

It is irrefutable that rice is the staple food of Southeast Asia. This love affair with the seed of the grass species, oryza sativa is not only rooted in the tangible world but has its own mystical underpinnings to it. Such a relationship is observed through the worshipping of the goddess of rice, fertility, and wealth, Dewi Sri, by communities in what is now modern-day Indonesia, prior to the advent of Islam.

Ever since the military junta gained power in 2014, it has promised on numerous occasions that democracy will return to Thailand and fresh elections will be held. Four years since the installation of a military government known as the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), elections have yet to be held and citizens there are losing patience. Pro-democracy protests calling for the end of military rule and fresh elections have increased in frequency and in crowd size.

A surprise surge in Thailand’s economic growth could sway the country’s military government to stick to a plan for fresh elections early next year.Rebounding agricultural output and more traditional drivers such as exports and tourism helped propel gross domestic product growth to a five-year high of 4.8 percent last quarter.

It is irrefutable that rice is the staple food of Southeast Asia. This love affair with the seed of the grass species, oryza sativa is not only rooted in the tangible world but has its own mystical underpinnings to it. Such a relationship is observed through the worshipping of the goddess of rice, fertility, and wealth, Dewi Sri, by communities in what is now modern-day Indonesia, prior to the advent of Islam.

At the end of January 2017, Thailand’s military junta announced that general elections could be delayed until early 2019. The announcement sparked anger from the public as protests occurred within days of the announcement. Ever since then there has been various protests held by activists against the military junta urging them to keep their promise of holding general elections in November 2018.Under the current military junta, public gatherings of more than four people are prohibited.