"A lot of people are paying attention to this election because they want to see if people still believe in Thaksin or not," said one 60-year-old man, who was among the first to enter the booths at Bangkok's Yannawa public school.

They do. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's Thai Rak Thai party juggernaut romped to an unprecedented victory in Sunday's polls, handing the premier a historic second term at the helm of the mainly Buddhist kingdom and its 63 million people.

Within moments of the close of voting at 3pm (0800 GMT), televised exit polls showed Thai Rak Thai snatching an astonishing 399 of 500 parliamentary seats. Ninety minutes later, the shellshocked opposition Democrat Party conceded defeat.

The victory was such a certainty that Thai Rak Thai's ultra-modern party headquarters in the plush Shinawatra Tower III was virtually void of supporters. A crush of media had gathered there to hear Thaksin proclaim himself the winner but a public victory party had not materialized.

"I am glad that Thai Rak Thai won because their policies are good," Kraisorn Mahamitr, a waiter at the headquarters' food court, told AFP near a huge outdoor TV screen airing the exit poll results.

Kraisorn dismissed growing concerns by critics that Thaksin was emerging as an authoritarian ruler with an iron grip on power.

"I don't think the government will turn into a dictatorship because they have to work for the people," he said.

At the opposition Democrat Party's less glitzy headquarter, a handful of supporters gathered to watch the results in more somber mood.

One businessman, who identified himself as Adinas, said he voted for the Democrats but acknowledged that Thaksin had worked hard for the people.

"But I wanted the Democrat Party to check the prime minister's work. Sometimes it's not good," the 37-year-old said.

Taxi driver Preecha Phongdee, 40, gave his vote to Thaksin in the capital's Phra Khanong district, saying he was impressed with the policeman-turned-tycoon's performance since he won his first term in 2001.

"Thaksin has proved himself to be the right leader over the past few years. The economy is better," he said, noting that the number of his passengers had surged in recent years.

"And after the tsunami happened, Thaksin went promptly to deal with the disaster on Phuket and that impressed me because I'd never seen a prime minister do something like this before."

Thais were casting their votes in the shadow of the December 26 tsunami that lashed the southwest coast, leaving nearly 5,400 people dead, thousands homeless and tens of thousands without work. Some 3,000 are still listed as missing.

In the hardest-hit province Phang Nga, the army offered rides to voters left homeless by the tsunami, bringing them from camps to ballot boxes.

At a booth in the heart of Bangkok's backpacker district near a board crammed with posters seeking information of missing loved ones, businesswoman Sichan Somprua also voted for Thaksin.

"Thaksin is a businessman and he knows how to do business," said Sichan, adding that his setting up of a small- and medium-enterprise bank had allowed her import-export business to keep going.

"I voted for him because he knows what he is doing."

Her two daughters, however, said they were voting against Thaksin, fearing that his growing grip on power represents a threat to democracy.

"He doesn't listen to anyone. He has a lot of money and this can enable him and his family to abuse power and get even richer," said 21-year-old Wilairat.

In the Muslim-majority south, scene of a 13-month separatist insurgency in which more than 580 people have died, voters headed to polls under the watchful eye of heavily-armed security forces.