Since the coup on May 22, 2014, the same promise has been made, and broken, four times. Soon after the 2014 coup, the then-army chief Prayut Chan-o-cha said that polls would be held the following year. Then 2015 came and in February of that year, while meeting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo, Gen Prayut said that polls would be held in 2016. Although sources say that the "Rolex General", Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, had bitterly opposed holding elections in 2018, Gen Prayut went ahead and made the promise. Gen Prayut's retreat from his various commitments serves only to erode the credibility that our forefathers and many statesmen have built over decades.

Source: Bangkok Post January 27, 2018 21:33 UTC