Wednesday's joint session of parliament to vote for the country's 30th prime minister raised the curtain on a new, post-coup political era. It will be another chapter in Thailand's political history where its democracy, half-baked as it may seem, will be tested.
After a lengthy and sometimes tedious debate with both sides adamantly sticking to their guns, Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, who refused to share his vision, was supposed to eventually be elected premier.
His return to power was academic given the support of the junta-installed 250 senators, while the Palang Pracharath Party which nominated him for prime minister, managed to gather enough support from partners large and small amid reports that cabinet posts have been settled.
Now Gen Prayut will proceed with cabinet formation.
Yet, with a thin majority, he and his new government will sooner rather than later find the road ahead not so smooth with plenty of tricky political games.
There will be old and new challenges for the new administration.
Wednesday's debate, chaired alternatively by House Speaker Chuan Leekpai and his deputy Pornpetch Wichitcholchai, had political observers realising the country's old problems remain intact.
It was apparent that this country's politics is caught in a trap of polarisation and divisions.
Nepotism freely practised by the military regime made it worse, as each side pointed the finger, blaming the other for past political crises, and several politicians tried to use tactics, albeit dirty, to discredit those in the opposite camp.
One glaring fact that stood out from the debate was a failure of the regime, after five years of absolute power, in forging reconciliation, and the promise to "bring back happiness" was not met.
Apart from trying to perform a political balancing act, Gen Prayut will have his work cut out tackling old, serious issues like the environment.
One MP, in a bid to have parliament reject Gen Prayut, raised the issue of the Akara gold mine in Phichit and how the use of Section 44 in closing it has backfired.
If anything, the mine saga showed the failure of bureaucracy in solving the problem for those who were suffering from pollutants emitted from mining activities.
Now Gen Prayut will have to face the aftermath of the Section 44 order as the company, a subsidiary of the Sydney-based Kingsgate Consolidated, has gone to international arbitration in its demand for compensation.
Gen Prayut will find out once again that the bulky-yet-inefficient bureaucracy will be a major challenge for the new administration. He will have no choice but to confront bureaucrats -- a task that will make him even more frustrated.
The prime minister will from now on walk a political tightrope where political challenges may escalate to crisis point. Few, if any, political analysts believe he will complete his term.
Gen Prayut will have to contend with difficult situations, but he should know that parliamentary mechanisms are the best way forward for the country, and that he and all other politicians have a moral duty to make democracy work.
