The upcoming general election will be held on March 24 after long delays and postponements.

There was an energy in the air not felt in five years, as applicants queued up to register for the first time since 2014. But the atmosphere was quiet as the Election Commission banned candidates from organising colourful parades as in the past.

In Bangkok, candidates for constituency MPs arrived at the registration centre, the Thai-Japanese Stadium in Din Daeng, in the early hours to obtain early queue cards to draw their candidate numbers.

In previous polls, all candidates in the same party used the same number for campaigning. This time though, in a first for Thailand, each candidate will have his or her own number.