Thai PM dissolves parliament, calls for polls

THAI Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha dissolved the country’s parliament today, setting up a general election in May as the former coup leader seeks to extend army-backed rule.

The vote pits unpopular former army chief Prayut, who came to power in a 2014 putsch, against the daughter of billionaire former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, whose shadow still looms over the kingdom’s political scene despite more than a decade in exile.