As Thailand prepares to vote, can election deliver the change it needs?

Thailand’s rival parties hold final rallies later on Friday in a last-ditch push to win over undecided voters among a public craving change but still deeply split over the remedy for years of ulcerous political and economic decline.The reformist People’s Party is expected to win the most seats in Sunday’s ballot, with many of the 3 million first-time voters likely to endorse its plan to share stakes in the economy and power more equally.But the conservative Bhumjaithai Party, led by caretaker prime minister Anutin Charnvirakul – a construction oligarch, pilot and cannabis legalisation advocate – is running close behind and is forecast to find it easiest to form a coalition government.He is backed by Thailand’s major political dynasties and is riding a nationalist wave over a border war with Cambodia.Tracking in third for now is Pheu Thai, the once all-conquering political vehicle of Thaksin Shinawatra, who is in jail and whose family fortunes have faded in recent years, but could yet prove instrumental in government formation post-election.A man walks behind political parties’ election campaign posters in Bangkok, Thailand, on Wednesday. Photo: APWhoever wins will become Thailand’s fourth prime minister in three years in a politically combustible country where experts say the rules are rigged to ensure the arch-conservative establishment is never away from power for long.