What Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s Election Means for Thailand and the World

When TIME sat down with Anutin Charnvirakul late last month, Thailand’s Prime Minister was feeling the strain of the campaign trail. The 59-year-old grumbled that gladhanding throngs of supporters in dusty villages had left him prey to bugs and viruses. “I meet so many people and sometimes maybe they have caught a cold,” Anutin said from Bangkok’s neo-Gothic Government House. “I hear them coughing and try to hold my breath. But I might not be able to do that 100%.”

[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

Still...