The Election Commission (EC) reported that the majority of vote-buying incidents during yesterday’s elections occurred in Bangkok, which boasts the very best variety of constituencies among all provinces. Despite this, the EC noted that the overall number of poll-related violations was lower than in earlier elections.
EC secretary-general Sawaeng Boonmee disclosed that the fee obtained 163 complaints yesterday, with fifty eight regarding vote-buying, 55 involving fraud, and 17 about the abuse of energy by state officers overseeing the elections. Vote-buying incidents had been reported in numerous areas, although most occurred in Bangkok.
National police chief Damrongsak Kittiprapas said that over 150,000 officers were deployed to maintain peace and order on the 94,737 polling stations countrywide. In the previous two to 3 days, a minimum of three individuals have been charged with vote-buying. Police are also investigating incidents of campaign banner vandalism.
Deputy national police chief and head of the Royal Thai Police’s election administrative centre, Roy Inkapairoj, explained that almost all of complaints acquired by the centre had been related to the destruction of marketing campaign banners. The centre’s spokesman, Nithithorn Chintakanon, added that over 1,000 candidates’ banners had been vandalised through the campaigning period.
On the eve of the elections, there was a surge in vote-buying complaints in Kanchanaburi. In Ayutthaya, native legislation enforcement has gathered enough evidence to charge a number of individuals with vote-buying offences.
In associated Limited , former politician and whistleblower Chuvit Kamolvisit claimed that in Ayutthaya, Chon Buri, Pathum Thani, Songkhla, and Yala, a minimum of one hundred individuals distributed 500 baht (approximately US$15) every to native villagers in exchange for their votes. The evidence supporting his allegations stays unspecified.
Meanwhile, academics are predicting that the Move Forward Party (MFP) is prone to form a government coalition with the Pheu Thai Party and other smaller events following yesterday’s Thai election..