‘Monk’ at polling station didn’t violate Thailand’s election rules

The Governor of Lampang ordered the Chae Hom District Chief to investigate a potential election violation yesterday after photos circulated of a monk standing at a polling station in Lampang province in northern Thailand.

In Thailand, ordained Buddhist monks are not eligible to meddle in politics or vote in any election. Photos of the monk sparked panic that this rule had been violated at Polling Station 10 in the Chae Hom district.

Chae Hom District Chief, Chan Judkong, hurried down to the polling station to find that the monk in the photo wasn’t a monk at all, but a man named Veerapong [surname withheld], reports KhaoSod.

It turns out that Veerapong was not wearing real Buddhist robes but a saffron-coloured dress made to emulate a Thai monk’s outfit. He said he wore it to cast his vote to create content for social media.

Chief Chan said that he couldn’t find any violation of Thailand’s election regulations in Veerapong’s outfit choice so he didn’t bother informing the police.

Another law in Thailand forbids anyone who is not formally ordained as a monk to wear monk’s robes. Although, Veerapong didn’t technically break this law because he wore a dress.

It’s assumed that Veerapong voted for the Move Forward Party (MFP) yesterday since supporters of the party across the nation dressed in orange to cast their votes yesterday.

Representing a huge shift in the population’s political stance, the youth-led MFP – in favour of radical reform of the country’s institutions – took a stunning lead in yesterday’s polls.

MFP won the imagination of young and old voters alike with their plans to amend Thailand’s strict lese majeste laws that punish those who insult the monarchy with a jail term of up to 15 years.

Academics predict that the MFP will likely form a coalition government with the Phue Thai Party and other smaller parties after winning 151 of the 500 seats in the lower house – 10 seats ahead of the Phue Thai Party, led by the daughter of former ousted Prime Minister Taksin Shinawatra, Paethongtarn.

Police reported 38 violations of election regulations nationwide.