Embattled Thai PM Prayuth fights to stay on in vote on Sunday

FILE PHOTO: Incumbent Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha campaigns for re-election in Phuket, Thailand May 7, 2023. REUTERS/Jorge Silva/File Photo

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's embattled Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha is lagging behind the opposition in polls ahead of Sunday's general election but electoral rules written by his former military junta mean the retired army chief can't be counted out.

Prayuth, 69, who first came to office in a 2014 coup, has survived a hotly disputed election in 2019, mass protests in 2020 and four no-confidence votes in parliament.