Thai junta party 'unexpectedly' leading as 90 pct ballots counted

Thailand's junta-linked party took a shock lead in the popular vote with nearly all ballots counted, the Election Commission said late Sunday, edging ahead of its pro-democracy rivals in the first election since a 2014 coup. The Phalang Pracharat party, which wants junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha to return as premier, gained more than 7.3 million votes with 91 per cent of votes tallied, according to the EC -- nearly half a million more than Pheu Thai.