BANGKOK: Thais voted Sunday in an election pitting the popular reformists who came first last time against the conservative who ended up as prime minister, with ex-leader Thaksin Shinawatra looming large from his prison cell. The Southeast Asian nation’s next government will need to contend with anaemic economic growth — the tourism sector vital but arrivals yet to return to their pre-Covid highs. Multibillion-dollar transnational cyberscam networks operate from several neighboring countries, and a longstanding border dispute with Cambodia erupted into deadly fighting twice last year.

Sunday's vote is seen as a test of whether Thailand's cycle of coups, protests and court interventions can be broken.

BANGKOK: Thai voters will head to the polls on Sunday after cycling through three prime ministers in less than three years, with the three-way contest of major parties set to…