Election
UPDATE: Election results – what it all means

The Election Commission says the official results of the Thai general election will be announced today.
By the close of counting last night around 92% of the votes had been counted. The bleary-eyed commission decided to delay the announcement until this afternoon.
The EC chairman says the announcement of winners in each constituency had to be deferred because expat’ votes from New Zealand had not arrived on time.
The election results were widely followed as internet sites went into meltdown (including The Thaiger) as people clambered for the latest booth counts.
The map, courtesy of Bangkok Post, shows that general voter sentiment was largely unchanged after five years of military rule with the north and north east still favoring the Pheu Thai (pro-Thaksin, pro-democracy) party, versus the rest of Thailand.
The Palang Pracharat (pro-regime) party and Pheu Thai were neck and neck all evening as the numbers rolled in from booths around the country. The two big surprises during the evening were the high polling of the new Future Forward party which clearly hit the right note with the seven million new eligible voters who exercised their democratic right for the first time. The other key aspect of the evening was the failure of the Democrats to woo their past constituency.
Thailand’s former PM Abhisit Vejjajiva said he will resign as leader of the Democrats.
State-owned television station MCOT calculated the distribution projection of all 500 lower house seats, including party list winners, also based on the election authority’s data. At 10 p.m., it forecast 146 seats would belong to the Thaksin Shinawatra-linked Pheu Thai, followed closely by the junta’s Palang Pracharat Party, at 141. MCOT expected the Future Forward Party to win 85 seats, Bhumjaithai 55 and the Democrats 36.
If MCOT’s estimate is accurate, the junta will have enough seats to make their candidate, Prayut Chan-o-cha prime minister.
The Bangkok Post reported an unofficial estimate for all 500 seats, also based on commission data. With 93% of the vote counted, Pheu Thai had the lead with 129 seats. Palang Pracharat followed with 117. Bhumjaithai was seen taking 49 seats, with the Democrats winning the same number. Future Forward was seen taking a surprising 78 seats.
BUT, the big issue that will be discussed today, is if Pheu Thai and Future Forward decide to collaborate, they could form a coalition that would come close to having a majority of lower house seats.
According to popular vote figures from the EC, Palang Pracharat garnered the most votes with 7.5 million, with Pheu Thai following at 7.3 million. But these figures do not necessarily reflect the actual makeup of the parliamentary seats to be announced some time today.
The lower house is made up of 500 members, 350 will come from single-seat districts. The remaining 150 will be distributed among parties based on how they fared nationwide.The current constitution states that the PM should be chosen by a majority of all 750 legislators, a number that includes 250 Junta-appointed senators.
An anti-junta coalition would need 376 lower house seats if its preferred candidate is to become PM.
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Bangkok
Courteous thief apologises to Bangkok convenience store: Sorry I’ve a kid

A young man armed with a knife allegedly robbed a convenience store in Ladprao district of Bangkok, stealing 1,800 baht. Before fleeing on a motorcycle, he apologised to the staff, saying “Sorry. I’ve a kid”.
It’s really hard to find a thief with good manners these days.
The female staff who was in the store when the man came in told the reporter that she saw the man in a cream shirt with short sleeves, walking in the store and carrying a bag. He suddenly pointed the knife to threaten the staff for money. The terrified staff walked to the cashier counter and gave him money.
After checking CCTV cameras, police say the thief is between 25-30 of his age, and was not wearing a face mask. He was seen parking his motorcycle in front of the store before entering. He appeared to be carrying what looked like a fruit packing knife. The police are now tracking him down.
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Thailand
Efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines will drop during mass inoculations: Thai virologist

Thai virologist Dr. Yong Poovorawan from Chulalongkorn University, has spoken about claims that the efficacy of every vaccine available today, including Covid-19 vaccines, tend to lower after being used in mass inoculations, compared to the findings from the laboratory during human testing trials.
He recommends that people should not rely solely on the vaccines alone because uncertainty will remain during the roll out phase of the new inoculations.
“The best way to protect themselves is to practice basic safety standards as we usually do today… wearing face masks all the time when going outside and in crowded venues, regularly washing hands, and maintain social distancing.”
On his Facebook page, Dr. Young cited the case of Hepatitis B vaccines that claimed between 94-95% efficacy. But after use on mass populations, its efficacy dropped to about 80%. He believes this trend will be the same as Covid-19 vaccines.
“Although the manufacturers claim the vaccines’ high efficacy, that is just the laboratory results. In practice, several variables may cause lower effectiveness of the vaccines.”
He also says that the real effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines, both the American from Pfizer and the Chinese from Sinopharm will be known soon after the populations of Israel and UAE have been inoculated in large numbers already.
SOURCE: Thai PBS World
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Election
Education minister’s wife plans to run for governor of Bangkok

The education minister of Thailand’s wife is planning to run for the governor of Bangkok when the city poll is called, in a move that puts her in direct competition with others for the backing of the ruling Palang Pracharath Party.
Nataphol Teepsuwan confirmed on Friday that his wife Taya Teepsuwan, a former core member of the now-defunct Peoples’ Democratic Reform Committee, would contest the unscheduled gubernatorial election.
Natapol met briefly with PM Prayut, with some speculating that the Government House meeting was centred around his wife’s future political career. But Natapol denied that was the focus of the meeting.
Her decision to run could be problematic as Bangkok governor Aswin Kwanmuang or former police chief Chakthip Chaijinda are expected to run under the Palang Pracharath banner. Both of those candidates were close to the party back when PM Prayut was the junta leader.
Chakthip has given signs of his intentions to run as he set up a Facebook page this month, while Aswin has not officially made up his mind whether to run or stand aside for the former national police chief.
But Natapol says his wife, who is a former deputy Bangkok governor, plans to a run as an independent if she is passed over by Palang Pracharath. The education minister said he had informed party leader Prawit Wongsuwon of his wife’s intention.
Taya is the youngest child and only daughter of the late business tycoon Chalermbhand and Khunying Sasima Srivikorn. Along with her husband, she co-founded the Rugby International School in Chonburi.
Taya was also the managing director of Srivikorn School and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from Thailand’s Chulalongkorn University as well as a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration at Chulalongkorn University. She also has a Master’s in Analysis, Design and Management of Information Systems from The London School of Economics & Political Science.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
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