Thailand has chosen to ratify a military-drafted constitution that is set to guide the country for the foreseeable future.
Rather than rejecting the constitution and the uncertainty that went with a no-vote, a significant majority of people chose to vote for the charter and with it a form of guided democracy for the immediate future.
On Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan told reporters that the referendum win “was not a victory for the (military) but represents the will of the people”.
The overall margin of victory was high, with almost 61% of voters choosing to approve the referendum from among a voter turnout of about 55 %.
Since coming to power in May 2014, both Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and his cabinet have made public statements asking for “the understanding of the people” so they can fix a divided nation.
Internal criticisms and condemnation from one-time allies in the West over military rule have left the military government scrambling for legitimacy.
Now with a constitution that empowers it and a promised election - some time before September 2017 the government says -  Prayuth and his generals can say that their guided form of democracy is legitimate and what Thais across the country desire.
Minutes after the Election Commission announced the charter had passed, Prayuth released a statement to the foreign media decrying the
“inappropriate intervention by foreign elements”.
“All these interferences have inevitably led us to have contempt for the sentiments of those who claim to be ‘friends’ of Thailand,” the statement said.
The military believes the new constitution will purge Thailand of corrupt civilian politicians and restore stability after nearly a decade of political turmoil including two coups.
Under the new charter the Upper House will be entirely appointed, including six seats reserved for the military, while a proportional voting system will likely reduce the influence of major parties.
The Senate will also have a voice in picking a non-elected prime minister if the Lower House is deadlocked, while it will be easier to impeach a civilian leader.
Thailand has been bitterly divided ever since a 2006 coup that toppled Thaksin Shinawatra as prime minister.
Years of competing protests and instability followed. In 2014 the army seized power once more, toppling Thaksin’s sister Yingluck.
The country’s populous and poor north and northeast, a Shinawatra stronghold, was one of the few regions to vote against the charter.
Addressing those voters, Prayuth said: “I can see you suffering. I will take care of you. But I have to take care of other regions too.”
The Shinawatra clan have won all general elections since 2001, harvesting votes by promising greater wealth and opportunity to the nation’s rural poor. But the family is loathed by an arch-royalist Bangkok elite which is backed by the military, and by southern voters who accuse the clan of corruption and populism.
And it is significant that there has been no sign of unrest since the referendum.