With 93 per cent of votes counted on Monday, the pro-junta party has a total of 7,939,937 votes nationwide while the Shinawatra-backed Pheu Thai trails in second with 7,423,361 votes. In this election, the total number of votes for each party – no matter whether its constituency candidates win or not – are combined to determine how many party-list MPs each party gets.

According to current calculations of the total number of seats – constituency and party-list – Pheu Thai has the highest number at 135 while Phalang Pracharat trails with 119.

“Our winning results [with the most votes nationwide] show that ‘silent’ voters added to our popularity among voters,” Phalang Pracharat Secretary-General Kobsak Pootrakool said on Monday.

He then admitted that his party had begun talking with other parties to form a coalition government.

However, the party would wait for a clearer picture of the final result from the Election Commission before deciding its next move, he added.

The unofficial tally late Sunday night gave Phalang Pracharat’s Sutha Prateep na Thalang the victory in Constituency 1 with 32,338 votes.

He beat Democrat Rewat Areerob, who got 25,198 votes. The voter turnout was 70.80 per cent.

In Constituency 2, Natthee Thinsakhu of Phalang Pracharat beat Democrat Chaiyos Panyawai, 26,787 votes to 23,492.

Voter turnout was 72.57 per cent.

Niphan Sirithorn of the Phalang Pracharat Party, a former governor of the southern province, snatched it away from veteran Democrat campaigner Sukij Attopakorn.

In a ballot count that remains unofficial pending Election Commission endorsement, Niphan garnered 37,849 votes to Sukij’s 36,297.

Constituency 1 was regarded as the “capital” of Democrat strength.

Chuan, who twice served as prime minister, votes there and is greatly admired locally, so previously all a Democrat candidate needed to win was his blessing.

Chuan, now chief adviser of the Democrats, monitored the counting of votes in Trang from his home, in the company of about 100 party supporters and canvassers.

The gathering fell silent when Abhisit Vejjajiva announced on TV late Sunday night that he was fulfilling a vow to resign as party leader if the Democrats failed to win at least 100 seats.

Unofficial results on Monday morning gave the party 55 seats.

The Democrats’ Sathit Wongnongtoey will be returning to Parliament to represent Trang’s Constituency 2, having won 45,431 votes to beat Phalang Pracharat’s Wiroj Thong-oh-iam, who mustered 32,119 votes.

Rangsima, a nurse by profession, is a veteran MP known for her colourful and witty debating style in the House.

Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva tendered his resignation on Sunday night after an unofficial vote tally indicated his party had won 42 only House seats, far fewer than it did in the 2011 election.

Rangsima’s victory was not unexpected after four consecutive wins in the province.

She garnered 26,718 votes, easily side-lining Sukanda Panasutha, the candidate for the pro-junta Phalang Pracharat Party, who received 21,868 votes.

Samut Songkram had a higher voter turnout than the national average, with 76.36 per cent of its 156,976 eligible voters casting ballots.

He usually arrives for work around 8.30am but on Monday his vehicle was seen entering the Government House at 9.37am.

Palang Pracharat party, which nominated Prayut as its sole prime ministerial candidate, is currently neck to neck with Pheu Thai party in terms of seats won.

The Election Commission has not yet announced the official tally of the general election.  However an unofficial count saw Prayut’s party with only a few MPs less than Pheu Thai.

Reporters at the Government House tried to ask Prayut questions but he waved them away and walked into the Government House building.

A source revealed that Prayut watched the counting of the votes until late in the night, which probably caused him to arrive late at the Government House. Prayut has no appointments or meetings until 6pm.

A UN official said four four-member teams, wearing pale blue vests, were assigned to polling stations in Bangkok, Nonthaburi and Pathum Thani yesterday.

Their job was to look out for any issues that might occur as citizens exercised their democratic right.

Jennifer Harhigh, the United States consul-general based in Chiang Mai who personally monitored polling at Chiang Mai University, called the exercise “informal”, stemming from her country’s interest in the region.

“We have done so with permission granted by Thailand’s Election Commission,” she said.

American monitors also observed polling in other parts of the country, she added.

Dr Gopal Krishna Siwakoti of the Asian Network for Free Elections said he was one of his organisation’s observers dispatched to 25 provinces.

Myanmar-based Myawaddy Media had its own monitors at polling stations in the border province of Tak, saying this election could offer lessons for Myanmar, which has an election scheduled for next year.