This past week, political parties have pulled out all their trump cards in a final bid to woo voters before they cast their ballots on Sunday.

The Election Commission, meanwhile, has said it is ready for the election – the first in almost a decade – despite the difficulties it encountered last week during advance voting.

On Friday, the four key parties – Pheu Thai, the Democrats, Future Forward and Phalang Pracharat – took to the stage for the last time to deliver their speeches and reiterate their promises.

Phalang Pracharat came up with a secret weapon with its new tagline “Choose Peace, Choose Uncle Tu”, referring to junta leader General Prayut Chan-o-cha by his nickname and opting for the term “uncle” to apparently make him more approachable.

The tagline, printed on bright red paper, has been wrapped around campaign posters nationwide in a move to attract voters, particularly those who are still haunted by street rallies, violence and political turmoil before the military took over five years ago.

The pro-democracy bloc, meanwhile, has fought back, using a similar slogan to counter the junta’s moves to cling to power. In its final rally in Bangkok on Friday, Pheu Thai erected big signs in front of its rally venue, saying “put away the uncle and give all your votes to Pheu Thai”.

Pheu Thai suffered a serious setback after its sister party Thai Raksa Chart was dissolved for naming Princess Ubolratana as its candidate for prime minister.

Before this mishap, the camp had hoped to win both constituency and party-list seats and beat the junta’s election system with its sharing strategy. Now, in the last lap before the vote, Pheu Thai is calling on voters to choose them instead of other pro-democracy parties.

Veteran politician Bhokin Bhalakula called on voters on Friday to vote for Pheu Thai and make it the winner in all 250 constituencies it has candidates in.

Though that could lead to Pheu Thai getting no party-list MPs, it could also make things very difficult for its rivals, as they would need as many as 80,000 votes or more to get just one party-list MP elected.

This comes after Pheu Thai’s creative “lottery for savings” proposal rocked the voters last week. Touching on Thai people’s love for the lottery, the party promised to turn all the money spent on lotteries into a saving scheme, which people can draw from as a pension after retirement.

Future Forward Party is offering an alternative to the old conflicts plaguing the country over the past 12 years with its final campaign titled “Don’t let old politics hold Thailand back”.

It also launched a campaign to “Switch off the Senate”, in which it is calling for the 376 MPs in the 500-member Lower House to make a decision on the prime minister so the junta-appointed Senate can be stopped from being the determining factor in choosing the PM.

Meanwhile, the EC said it was ready to roll on Sunday and will not repeat the mistakes that occurred during advance voting last week.

EC secretary-general Jarungvith Phumma said on Friday that all the ballot papers and other equipment have already been dispatched to 92,300 voting stations across the country with a reliable checking system. All ballots will arrive safely at the correct constituencies with no mistakes, he said.

On the eve of the election, all papers and equipment will be checked again, he promised.

Jarungvith also advised voters to check the candidate’s number and name twice before voting.

He said some may have been disqualified, such as those running under the banner of the now-defunct Thai Raksa Chart Party, and ballots marked for these candidates will be voided.

Sunday’s election has been cast as a battle between authoritarian and democratic forces to determine whether members of the military junta will be able to legitimately cling to power through the ballot.

Among key factors standing in the generals’ way is the younger generation. Some seven million first-time voters have indicated they oppose the establishment elite and military-dominated politics and want a fresh start for the future.

Veteran politician Suthep Thaugsuban of the pro-junta Action Coalition for Thailand (ACT) knows this. The man who led the massive street protests that paved the way for military intervention in 2014 has asked his limited support base to persuade their kids to vote for him.

“Give them a wai, tell them this is the only thing you’ll ever ask them to do for you – ‘Please go vote for Loong Kamnan’,” Suthep begged on Monday while campaigning in Bangkok.

For an adult to wai a youngster suggests a desperate appeal for a favour or kindness. Suthep was referring to himself by his nickname, Loong Kamnan. He was once a tambon chief in the South. And he would love to have a share of the youth support enjoyed by youthful billionaire Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, leader of the Future Forward Party.

Thanathorn, a newcomer to politics apart from his student activism long ago, has based his campaigning on championing democracy, rights and a more open society, as well as improving the economy.

Opinion polls and observers give Future Forward little chance of winning the election, but junta chief Prayut Chan-o-cha, eager to hang on to the Prime Minister’s Office, realises that voters are drawn to what’s new. He’s modified his look and gestures and has tried to appear less gruff and rigid.

The pro-junta Phalang Pracharat Party, which nominated Prayut as its PM candidate, mimics Suthep’s tactic for attracting the youth vote, espousing the belief that “parents know best” and children should honour their parents’ wishes.

Prayut actually said last week he regards himself as the father of all Thais – a figurehead role most commonly associated with His Majesty the late King Bhumibol.

Phalang Pracharat, which takes its name from the junta-led government’s popular Pracharat series of public welfare schemes, is anxious to continue what observers refer to as the “Prayut regime”, which began with the 2014 coup.

The party has enjoyed electoral privilege, with the Election Commission and Ombudsman accepting Prayut’s candidacy on the grounds that despite being prime minister he is not a “state official”. Yet surveys suggest Phalang Pracharat cannot win a majority of House seats on Sunday.

To continue in government, Prayut and the party will need allies, because not even the 250 senators to be appointed by the junta will be enough to maintain the status quo. Potential allies abound, though, ready to vote for Prayut’s return to high office in exchange for Cabinet portfolios and other influential posts.

Surveys and analysts tend to view Pheu Thai as the frontrunner in the polling, despite the dissolution of its major ally, the Thai Raksa Chart Party, over its daring nomination of Princess Ubolratana as a PM candidate.

The Democrats, Thailand’s oldest party, have a significant chance to do well in the election, although their former secretary general, Suthep, will be funnelling off support for the ACT.

Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva’s stated refusal to support Prayut’s continuance in office reflected his confidence of victory in the polls, but his party has a slim chance of beating Pheu Thai.

Debate over specific policy proposals has largely faded from Thai electioneering since 2006. All of the parties have announced policies this time, but the public’s attention has mainly focused on personalities and the question of who might support whom as premier.

That is to date the key question for voters old and young – whether the triumphant party on Sunday will then enable General Prayut to continue his rule.

Rallies are being held in four areas and are expected to run from 4pm to 9pm.

The Phalang Pracharat Party will address voters at the Thephasadin Stadium in Pathumwan District.

Although the party failed to have its prime minister candidate, PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, to take on stage in its previous campaigns, it has told voters to expect a surprise on Friday night.

It remains to be seen whether Prayut will address voters via video clip, as he did previously, or will make an appearance live on stage.

The Democrat Party has chosen Lan Khon Muang plaza in front of the Bangkok City Hall in Phra Nakhon District as its battleground.

Party leader Abhisit Vejajjiva, a candidate for PM, will ask voters to cast their ballots for the Democrats so the party will form the next government.

Abhisit is expected to stress two issues – neither support dictatorship nor corruption – and vowed to bring back democracy.

At another camp, Phue Thai will stage its rally at The Thai-Japanese Stadium’s Keelawes 2 in Din Daeng district.

Its three prime ministerial candidates, Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan, Chadchart Sittipunt, and Chaikasem Nitisiri, will address voters.

The party is likely to appeal for a landslide win so they can form the next government.

Next to the Thaksin-backed party stage, at Keelawes 1 building in the same stadium, Phue Thai’s ally Future Forward Party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit will explain how he intends to drive the country forward if his party is elected.

“As the country is heading for an election on Sunday, it is a major task for all types of media to check and screen rumours, fake news and disinformation before releasing any news and help to stop the spread of fake news in order to prevent the media from being used as a political tool of political camps,” they said.

Their statement was issued in response to the airing of a controversial audio clip by Nation TV on one of its most popular news programmes, hosted by star anchor Kanok Ratwongsakul.

The clip featured what now appears to be a faked conversation between Future Forward Party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit and the ousted former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, in which they were discussing post-election prospects.

Netizens criticised the station, saying it had shown itself to be politically compromised by reporting “fake news” that favoured the pro-junta bloc.

The statement said that in the current era in which information spreads quickly online and in social media, journalists needed to use their freedom with more responsibility.

The media needed to ensure they remained fair to anyone affected by stories published in print or on the airwaves; they should also heed advice, criticism and be open to more intense scrutiny by society, the statement said.

The media needed to do its duty to professional standards, and following a code of ethics, in order to report accurately and gain credibility from society, the associations added.

The joint statement was signed by the Thai Broadcast Journalists Association, Thai Journalists Association, the News Broadcasting Council of Thailand and the National Press Council of Thailand.

The agency’s secretary-general Jarungvith Phumma said results can be expected in less than an hour from polling stations where the turnout is not too large, adding that unofficial results from at least 95 per cent of the polling stations should be ready by 8pm on Sunday.

These results will reveal the number of constituency seats won by each party, but figures on party-list seats will not be released until after the EC has officially endorsed the election results, Jarungvith added.

“The agency will not do the calculations to find out the number of party-list MPs on Sunday. Also, numbers may change, especially if by-elections are required or if ballots need to be recounted in some areas. We can only reveal the results once we have endorsed the votes,” he said.

More than 92,000 polling stations will be operating on Sunday, he said, adding that all ballot papers and equipment will be distributed a day earlier on Saturday.

Jarungvith also encouraged voters to be on the alert for any breach of law, promising a Bt100,000 reward for evidence of bribery or vote-buying which results in the disqualification of candidates or a rerun of the vote.

Meanwhile, civil-society groups led by rights watchdog iLaw have launched the vote62.com website to serve as a platform for updates on election results and as a means to prevent fraud during the counting of ballots.

Those participating in ballot counting can take photographs of the counting board and post the pictures on the website, while those keeping track of the vote-count on TV or online platforms can enter tallies or upload photos on the website.

The group said the results displayed on the website will later be compared by the official results released by the EC to ensure transparency.

The Health Department meanwhile has issued tips, with director-general Panpimol Wipulakorn advising voters to get at least six hours sleep before casting their vote.

Voters have also been urged to wear light clothes because the temperature on Sunday is expected to rise above 40 degrees Celsius.

“There is a risk of heatstroke,” Panpimol warned, adding that people could stay hydrated by drinking eight to 10 glasses of water a day.

“Use an umbrella or wear a hat when you head out to vote,” she said, reminding people that those who had cast their votes in advance on March 17 found themselves queuing for hours in searing heat.

Peace and conflict have never been significant parts of any political party platform in Thailand. This is because a sustainable solution calls for long-term commitment to a policy that could prove to be politically costly.

Lasting peace requires self-reflection on the part of both the state and society. Policymakers have to rethink the policy of assimilation that has so far been rejected by the Malay Muslim populace of the southern border provinces because it comes at the expense of their cultural and religious identity.

Full-fledged armed insurgency erupted in the far South in the 1960s, some 50 years after the signing of the Anglo-Siam Treaty that defined our current political borders.

There was a brief calm in the 1990s, but the absence of violence did not mean peace. A new generation of militants was being groomed by the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) and this time the separatists did not look to Arab countries for financial support and training, but developed their own resources at the grassroots level.

BRN fighters surfaced in 2001, only to be dismissed by then-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra as “sparrow bandits”. That characterisation changed on January 4, 2004, when scores of armed insurgents raided an Army battalion in Narathiwat and stole more than 350 military weapons.

Successive governments have been dabbling in peace initiatives, but none succeeded in getting the BRN – which gives all of the armed combatants their orders – to participate in talks.

At a recent public forum in Bangkok organised by Amnesty International, Pauline Ngarmpring, the Mahachon Party’s transgender candidate for PM, spoke in terms noticeably absent from the Democrat and Pheu Thai speeches – mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and cultural diversity.

The Future Forward Party’s representative blamed the 15 years of discord in the South on government mishandling and mistreatment of citizens. There is some truth to this, but it overlooks the fact that the Malays of Patani – the three border provinces – see themselves as having a unique identity that defies full assimilation.

The parties contesting Sunday’s election have generally been careful about the issue as they seek to impress both Muslim and Buddhist voters.

Future Forward has risked campaigning for a reduced military presence in the South and insisted that the diplomacy of give and take be the guide in peace talks.

Canvassing for votes

Political canvassers can earn a lot of money in the far South. From shady warlords and influential figures to Muslim clerics and community leaders, the canvassers have particular attributes or profile in common. All they need to do to succeed is connect with the voters.

Future Forward has scorned the deployment of canvassers, though, dismissing it as part of the patronage system they vow to curtail.

In the 2011 election campaign, all parties but one promised to give the Malay-speaking region “special administrative status”. The Democrats made no such pledge and still won 11 of the 12 available seats.

In this campaign, no one is repeating the promise.

The Pheu Thai Party promised special status in 2011 and won the national election, but then reneged on it once in government. It only served to convince the southerners that promises given them can be broken at no political cost to the one making the pledge.

Seeking cultural identity

Despite the obvious religious connotations, the conflict is still largely ethno-nationalistic in nature, though the authorities have often tried to get Muslim clerics to condemn the violence on religious grounds. The clerics who do so then face the wrath of the combatants. (There are, of course, also religious leaders who say the BRN is justified in taking up arms against the state.)

Prachachat, the so-called “Muslim party” led by Wan Muhammed Noor Matha, a wily politician and close ally of |Thaksin, has had both Islam and multiculturalism prominent in its campaigning. So far, though, there has been no elaboration on context or intent.

Nor has any party broached last year’s hijab row at Anuban Pattani Elementary School, in which 20 Buddhist teachers walked off the job because Muslim girls came to class wearing headscarves.

About 85 per cent of the region’s two million residents identify themselves as Malay Muslim, not Thai. The teachers seemed to wish to remind the Malays of Patani that they’re a defeated people and must abandon traditions and assimilate as citizens of Thailand.

Thus espousing the common denominator remains the safest track to electoral victory. Politicians know that most voters respond to patriotic evocations of “Thainess”.

Though few political parties have talked about foreign policy as they campaign for votes, experts are saying it’s time for them to break the tradition and address critical matters such as the US-China tariff war, the US Indo-Pacific strategy and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

Future Forward’s Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit has said his party, if elected, would not use China, despite its economic success, as a model to shape Thailand’s future, because its success comes at the expense of people’s rights.

“The junta is following the China model because it serves the status quo,” the billionaire politician told The Nation in an interview last year while preparing to assemble his party.

Challenging the nationalists

The former student activist appears to be the only politician daring to challenge nationalists in proposing that Thailand should welcome Muslim Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. The view has brought him considerable criticism.

His party’s foreign policy, as set out in its official manifesto, addresses the role of Asean as well as the basic principles of democracy and human rights. It is breaking from the norm by presenting a foreign-affairs platform, unheard of in previous political campaigns.

Former diplomat Kobsak Chutikul said he found it “very disappointing” to see so few parties raising foreign affairs in a year when Thailand is chairing Asean and is at a strategic crossroads with China and the US bolstering their presence in the region.

Authoritarian rule under the military junta has cut off, suppressed and delayed public debate about key foreign issues, he said.

Most parties are sticking to the mantra of promoting good relations with other countries, balancing power, and enhancing trade, investment and tourism, Kobsak said.

“But Thais, especially the younger generation, deserve something concrete and clear as to how our country will position itself in the world,” he said.

The Pheu Thai Party, which led the government under Yingluck Shinwatra, has proffered proactive foreign policies designed to build a role for Thais in the international community.

It would prefer that Thailand utilise the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy, rather than Asean, as a mechanism to connect with other Southeast Asian countries. The strategy was devised in 2003, during Thaksin Shinawatra’s tenure, as a cooperative framework for Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

The Democrat Party is promising sustainable development goals, foreign investment in creative industries and turning Thailand into a regional hub for aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul.

The pro-junta Phalang Pracharat Party vows to continue the junta’s foreign policy over the past five years. If it wins this Sunday, said Thammasat University scholar Dulyapak Preecharushh, Thai foreign policy would remain neither attractive nor proactive.

With a 20-year national strategy mapped out by the junta, the foreign platform will not evolve enough to deal with the challenge of balancing China against the the United States, he said.

“If the opponents of Phalang Pracharat win, we will see more elements, such as global peace and democracy, in foreign policy,” said Dulyapak, a keen observer of geo-politics.

However, he said, no matter which party wins, Thailand will not be able to avoid issues related to Asean or the wider region.