Prayut Chan-o-cha elected as new prime minister of Thailand

Thailand's current Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha was elected as the new prime minister of the country, President of the National Assembly Chuan Leekpai announced late on Wednesday.

Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha speaks to journalists at the Government House before a cabinet meeting in Bangkok, May 28, 2019. [Photo: AFP/ Lillian SUWANRUMPHA]

Prayut got 500 votes while his rival Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit got 244. The voting was conducted openly on a roll-call basis at an auditorium used as a makeshift parliament on Chaeng Wattana road.

One only needed a minimum of 375 votes from among a current total of 748 legislators in the House of Representatives and Senate combined to win a simple majority and became the prime minister following the March 24 election.

Prayut, who has run the country since 2014, was heading a meager majority government under a 19-party coalition led by the Palang Pracharath Party.

He is yet to set up a cabinet in which a maximum of 36 persons including himself can be named ministers.