others. The army's other key responsibilities will involve providing medical aid in areas close to protest sites, as well as traffic co-ordination duties in such areas. Assistant national police chief Amnart Unartngarm stated that its 200,000 police officers, plus 1,450 rapid-deployment units, would guard 93,535 polling stations in 76 provinces and Bangkok. 2014 Coup On 22 May 2014, the military staged a coup on 22 May 2014. Prayut Chan-o-cha quickly cracked down on dissent. He put in place controls on the media, imposed Internet censorship, declared a curfew nationwide, banned gatherings of five or more persons and arrested politicians and anti-coup activists, some of whom were charged with sedition and tried in military courts. On 26 May, King Bhumibol Adulyadej endorsed the coup, formally appointing Prayut to "take charge of public administration" as of 24 May. On 22 July 2014, Prayut issued an interim constitution granting himself an amnesty for leading the coup and new sweeping powers. The junta legislature unanimously voted Prayut, the sole candidate, as the new prime minister. The formal appointment was made on 24 August 2014, in which King Bhumibol Adulyadej officially endorsed Prayut as prime minister. Prayut activated Article 44 of the interim constitution. It authorises Prayut to issue "any order to suppress" any act that "undermines public peace and order or national security, the monarchy Political rights had been a free fall since Prayut took control. On 13 October 2016, Bhumibol passed away, King Vajiralongkorn became the new monarch. On 16 July 2017, Prayut and military junta legislator issued the Crown Property law, making King Vajiralongkorn in control of the world’s biggest royal fortune. 2017 military junta constitution Under the 2017 constitution, the senate was appointed by the NCPO and would select the prime minister alongside the House of Representatives. Political parties were able to nominate anyone as their prime minister candidate, including non-party members, which led commentators to believe that Prayut planned to be selected as prime minister with votes from 250 senators and MPs from pro-junta parties, namely the Phalang Pracharat Party, which has close ties to the junta and is led by Prayut's cabinet ministers, After the 2019 election, Prayut Chan-o-cha became prime minister, defeating Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit of the anti-junta Future Forward Party 500 votes to 244, in which 249 of 500 votes came from a near-unanimous body of senators appointed by the junta (NCPO). 2020–2021 protests The protests began in