Prayut Chan-o-cha

Voters in Thailand were heading to the polls on Sunday in an election touted as a pivotal chance for change, eight years after incumbent Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha first came to power in a 2014 coup. He is now running against the daughter of the politician who is the military's top nemesis.

Police confirmed today that they fired rubber bullets, for the first time since protests began last year.
Clashes broke out on Sunday, with police using tear gas and water cannons against protesters marching towards a military base in Bangkok, asking King Maha Vajiralongkorn to stop issuing direct orders to the army, Reuters reported.

Turkey on Feb. 9 condemned an armed attack in Thailand which killed scores of people.

"We are saddened to receive the news that many people lost their lives and injured at attacks that took place at a military barracks and a shopping mall on Feb. 8 in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

U.S. President Donald Trump will host Thai junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha at the White House next week, in a personal triumph for a Thai autocrat who was shunned by Barack Obama's administration for his regime's dismal rights record.

There were two bombs on May 22. The one in Britain killed at least 22 people and injured 120 as they came out of a concert at Manchester Arena. It was carried out by a suicide bomber named Salman Abedi and claimed by ISIS. The other was in Thailand, and injured 22 people at a military-linked hospital in Bangkok; nobody has claimed responsibility yet.

Thailand has a new king, with the country's crown prince formally taking the throne to succeed his much-revered late father, who reigned for 70 years.

An order by Thailand's junta giving sweeping police powers to soldiers is part of the "steady erosion of human rights protections," campaigners said April 5, calling for the law to be rescinded.

Police hunting those responsible for Thailand's deadliest bombing arrested a second foreign suspect on Sept. 1, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said.

The Aug. 17 attack on a Bangkok Hindu shrine killed 20 people and injured more than 100. Fourteen foreigners were among those killed in a blast the military government said was aimed at dealing a blow to an already ailing economy. 

Thailand destroyed more than two tons of ivory on Aug. 26 - a victory for animal rights groups fighting against the trade in a country renowned for being a hub for illegal tusks.

A bomb on a motorcycle exploded on Aug. 17 just outside a Hindu shrine in the Thai capital, killing 27 people, including foreign tourists, media reported, in an attack the government said was a bid to destroy the economy.