A Thai general election planned for early 2016 will now take place in August 2016 at the earliest, a deputy prime minister said Tuesday, following a decision by Thailand's Cabinet to hold a referendum on the country's new constitution.
"If we have to do a referendum in January, after that we will need three to four months to amend various laws . . . then no more than 90 days after that we will hold an election," Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam.
"At the earliest it will take place around August or in September."
The Thai Cabinet agreed earlier Tuesday that a referendum should be held on the constitution and the military's blueprint for restoring democracy.
Thailand's military government came to power in a coup last May.