Election Commission
- Thailand News
Thailand offers 11 billion baht subsidy for low-income electricity bills
The Thai government announced plans to allocate over 11 billion baht to support low-income earners with their electricity bills over the next four months, with the subsidy set to begin in May. However, the proposal needs to be reviewed and approved by the Election Commission (EC) before it becomes official. Following yesterday’s Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha addressed the…
- Thailand News
EC justifies Songkran trips to monitor early voting
The Election Commission (EC) in Thailand has come under scrutiny after all six of its members travelled abroad during the Songkran holiday on taxpayer-funded inspection visits. Former election commissioner and current MP candidate for the Seri Ruam Thai Party, Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, criticized the move, questioning the purpose and timing of the trips, given that the General Election has not yet…
- Thailand News
EC reports 2.3 million people register for advance voting
The Election Commission (EC) yesterday announced that 2,350,969 people have registered for advance voting ahead of the May 14 General Election. Registration was open between March 25 and April 9, and the EC reports that this year’s figures were similar to those of 2019, when 2.63 million people registered for advance voting, including 119,000 overseas voters, reported Bangkok Post. Of…
- Thailand Election News
Election results reporting to be aided by media alliance
Thai media outlets have teamed up to form an alliance that will provide live reporting of unofficial election results during the country’s upcoming General Election. This move was prompted by the Election Commission’s (EC) decision to use a non-real-time official reporting format, which sparked concerns about transparency and fairness. Rather than piecemeal independent reporting from various polling stations, The Association…
- Thailand Election News
UTN deputy leader accused of taking King’s name in vain
A Saturday speech at an election rally by deputy UTN leader Trairong Suwankiri that referred to the Thai royal family has set a former election commissioner’s ears buzzing. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s brand new Ruam Thai Sang Chart Party (United Thai Nation/UTN) could be in trouble. The new political force is already looking somewhat slightly tarnished, as a senior PM…
- Thailand Election News
Google tapped as Election Commission denies helping PM
The Office of the Election Commission (EC) reached out to Google Thailand for support in the upcoming General Election, while they deny accusations of favouring Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. They asked the search engine tech giant to help raise awareness about the election and assist in cracking down on fake news. On Monday, EC Secretary-General Sawaeng Boonmee met with a…
- Expats
Two Thailand population reports reveal conflicting data
Statistics provided by the Central Domicile Registration Office revealed that on December 31, 2022, Thailand’s official population stands at 66,090,475. The Worldometer elaboration of the latest United Nations data contradicts this however, saying it is over 70 million residents. Last year, an announcement formally published in the Royal Gazette stated that the official population of Thailand as of December 31,…
- Thailand Election News
Massive poll finds over 93% want PM Prayut to leave office now
With just one day before PM Prayut Chan-o-cha’s premiership expires, the Constitutional Court still has not ruled if he can continue as Thailand’s leader or not, but the court of public opinion has spoken. A new phone survey from a group of universities, TV stations, and online media found that a whopping 93.17% of people do not want PM Prayut…
- Bangkok News
Candidate for Bangkok’s governor says he has no plan to move the capital if he wins
Following the naming of Indonesia’s new capital by President Joko Widodo to replace sinking Jakarta, the candidate for Bangkok’s governor position in the upcoming election Suchatvee Suwansawas, wrote on his Facebook page that he had no plans to relocate the country’s capital due to the decades-long flooding that has hit Bangkok, and believe it or not, Bangkok is also sinking.…
- World News
Burmese junta election commission claims 11 million fraud cases
After the election in Myanmar last November, the military was unhappy with the results, claimed mass fraud, and overthrew the government, seizing power in a coup in February. Independent observers and analysts have yet to find any probable voter fraud in the election. But perhaps they weren’t looking in the right place because the military junta’s election commission just turned…
- Thailand News
Court bans Thailand’s first transgender MP over alleged media interests
An MP from the Move Forward Party, an opposition party that opposes the military’s influence in government, has been banned and could face jail time after the Constitutional Court found the MP guilty of violating a law prohibiting media shareholders from applying to become MPs. The court also looked into 57 other MPs over the same offence, but they were…
- Politics News
Thanathorn, other former Future Forward Party officials, are facing criminal charges
16 people from the dissolved Future Forward Party, including the former leader Thanathorn Juangroonruangkit, could face criminal charges pressed by the Election Commission for a large donation that exceeds the maximum allowed under the Political Parties Act. The timing of the politically-charged legal action coincides with a peak of anti-government protest activity. The 191 million baht loan, which exceeds the…
- Politics News
UPDATE: Future Future dissolved, MPs stripped of parliamentary status
UPDATE: The Constitutional Court has dissolved Thailand’s Future Forward political Party after finding it guilty of breaking the laws pertaining to loans, specifically from its leader Thanathorn Jungroongruangkit. The court has also ordered MPs of the party’s executive stripped of their parliamentary status and banned from politics for 10 years. Party leader Thanathorn and party supporters gathered at the headquarters in…
- Thailand Election News
Democrats poised to take on the Election Commission over party-list seats
Join the queue. The Democrat party is joining two other political parties in objecting to the Election Commission’s party-list formula used to allocate seats to parties following the March 24 election. They’ve vowed to take legal action over the matter, along with heu Thai and Future Forward All three have now vowed to explore all possible legal channels to deal…
- Thailand Election News
Announcement of election results this Tuesday and Wednesday
The Election Commission is, as promised, poised to announce the final election results next Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday’s initial round of results are sure to spark off a new round of political dramas – no matter who is considered the ‘winner’ from the results. The announcements come at a time when tensions are running high over lawsuits and the uncertainty over…
- Thailand Election News
Future Forward candidates deny claims of media shares, again
Future Forward party candidates have again denied a pro-Junta activist’s accusations that some of their members have shares in media companies. Srisuwan Chanya, describing himself as a social activist, earlier this week asked the Election Commission to take legal action against 11 candidates of the party, claiming they owned shares in media firms. If a candidate is found guilty of the…
- Thailand Election News
EC dogged by new controversy after poll re-run in Nakhon Pathom
Five times they counted and five times they got different results. The re-run of the election and the counting of votes in Nakhon Pathom, west of Bangkok, couldn’t have gone worse for the Election Commission, coming under fire from all directions over irregularities, forced recounts and hundreds of small errors in the counting process. The credibility has come under renewed…
- Thailand Election News
Thanathorn says he’s confident he won’t be penalised by the EC
Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, the leader of Future Forward Party, says he’s confident he won’t be penalised by the Election Commission over allegations he breached the Constitution and the election by holding shares in a media company, V Luck Media, when registering for the March 24 election. Thanathorn says he will submit his defence with the commission by next Monday and insists on…
- Thailand Election News
Activist’s car torched – Election Commission impeachment petition damaged
PHOTO: Thai PBS A car belonging to one of the activists campaigning for impeachment of the Election Commissioners at a rally in Rajaprasong intersection, Bangkok on Sunday, has had his car torched this morning, the second time in a week. Aekkachai Hongkangwan claims in a Facebook post today that his car was burnt beyond repair and some of his documents,…
- Thailand Election News
Protests demand results and transparency from the EC
by Kai Chanwanpen and The Thaiger The Thai Election Commission has to keep fending off criticism after protests yesterday were staged over its performance and the number of people demanding its members’ resignations was approaching one million. A former EC commissioner Sodsri Satayathum is calling on the agency to clear up all issues immediately before citizens launch an impeachment process,…
- Thailand Election News
“A clean and fair election”, EC assures international delegates
Thailand’s Election Commission has assured representatives from 11 nations and one international electoral watchdog organisation of a clean and fair election tomorrow. The EC briefed representatives of election commissions from Australia, Bhutan, Cambodia, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Indonesia, Philippines, South Korea, East Timor, and Vietnam at the Rama Gardens Hotel at 9.45am this morning. Representatives of the International Institute for Democracy…
- Thailand News
Pick a date, any date – Thai election
February 24, then March 10, then ‘sometime before May 7’, now March 24. The only thing we can be reasonably sure about is that it will be on a Sunday (Thai elections are always held on Sundays). Yesterday, Deputy PM Wissanu Krea-ngam hinted that the election could now be held on March 24. He painted March 24 as the “most…
- Thailand News
Election Commission denies election date delays
PHOTO: EC Secretary General Jarungwit Pumm The Election Commission has been forced to again reiterate that there is no postponement to the February 24 election day. EC Secretary General Jarungwit Pumma said: “There is currently no royal decree for the election but this does not mean the election date will be postponed.” He was responding to widespread rumours that the…
