Election not free or fair, says poll monitor

[The Deerhunter]

1 hour ago, justin case said:

so no problem with the man that takes over democratic power for 5 years and then appoints himself again as PM ....

 

thailand should stop investing so much money in the army...what country is invading thailand again ?  submarines ? 

Some of us are.   Thai'ed out.  Many with family connections and nowhere to go home to, cannot.  The latter often become balcony divers.

[neeray]

News media in North America comment on the "alleged irregularities" (fair to say, describing the process "gingerly" at this time). It would be interesting to hear from some members in other parts of the world on this. How are their home countries describing the election process?

 

 When this was told to a certain Thai friend, she said (verbatim) "very embarrassing that happened like this, is the most humiliating election".

[Homburg]

"Election not free or fair, says poll monitor"  ROFL.  Next week's shocking headline: Water is wet.

[Snig27]

The ECs job was to ensure these elections were NOT free and fair. That was the whole point of them, surely.

[cyril sneer]

this was enough to convince my partner's parents who to vote for

 

https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1591098/poor-queue-to-withdraw-govts-b500-new-year-handout

[Kieran00001]

3 hours ago, YetAnother said:

Does he know nothing of Thailand? Here that is part of 'free and fair' 

 

The thing with "vote buying" that has never been demonstrated, is how giving someone money outside the polling station encourages them to vote for their choice, people just take the money and vote for who they want.

[Chongalulu]

1 hour ago, jesimps said:

I challenge anyone to find me one single mug who took a bribe and voted for the party that paid him. Unless it was the one he intended voting for anyway. The beauty of secret balots.

You don’t think there are any uneducated,simple minded mugs up country who wouldn’t believe when told 'We will know how you voted if you tuctic '. You’d have to be a mug not to understand that...

[MaxYakov]

Whooda thunk it? 

[jmcet]

got 200 Baht for my vote and I can't even vote...lol...donated to the local Wat...

[Spike1938]

2 hours ago, justin case said:

so no problem with the man that takes over democratic power for 5 years and then appoints himself again as PM ....

 

thailand should stop investing so much money in the army...what country is invading thailand again ?  submarines ? 

I can't think of a single case where a military man has become prime minister or president or whatever has been a successful government. They usually wind up being dictators because they are used to just barking orders and having them followed. The lone exclusion might be the USA but even there the administrations of former generals wind up undistinguished. e.g. Grant, Eisenhower and Jackson.

[Nigel Garvie]

Most of the Thais I know are from the North East or the North. Almost all are ผท although many of the younger ones voted for new future. Many say they want Taksim back whilst being quite happy to accept that he is corrupt (Which politicians aren't?). They endlessly repeat that the economy was better. The problem with Generals is that they know nothing about the economy, but are not prepared to accept that that is possible, given the vast amounts of medals they have, and are not prepared to give any power to those who do understand economics. If you want to fix the loo don't employ a joiner (Carpenter for those wot can't speak proper). "It's the economy stupid" was never more appropriate. The rich power elite in Bangkok are hanging onto the army for "protection" from the country poor. Bangkok generates 25% of the country's wealth, but consumes 75% of it, from statistics I read recently.

[John1012]

2 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Well, the army seemed absolutely desperate to cling to power and the rewriting of the constitution pretty much assured that. Now, the question is, can Thailand ever get rid of them? Or are they destined to be a backwards moving nation forever?

 

Not sure about you guys, but this election sure leaves a bitter taste in my mouth in regards to my future in Thailand. A lifetime under these hapless incompetents?

Or going to another place , where one has little experience of the resident hapless incompetents? I will stick to these for as long as I can.

[tingtongtourist]

1 hour ago, jesimps said:

I challenge anyone to find me one single mug who took a bribe and voted for the party that paid him. Unless it was the one he intended voting for anyway. The beauty of secret balots.

exactly! 

It remind me of when i gave a Thai gf

 10,000 baht  1 week before my birthday 

and still she buy me nothing!!

[M71]

Thailand copying western countries again - this time it's the fact that all elections are rigged in the West.

 

On the humorous side - you've got to chuckle,  Diebold the company which make the slot machines for casinos in Los Vegas also make the US voting machines ????  

 

Is there ever anything new under the sun.

[DJ54]

How ever it shakes out let’s hope that something was learned from the past to make a better Thailand. I don’t think there will violence 

as was in the past.

 

Although it could happen if the people didn’t understand the outcome if violence started would lead to Article 44? 

 

Its a no win situation hopefully member of the House will think

abour the need for change to move Thailand forward. The Senate 

is already in the bag for oneside...

 

i read the official results will be announced in May? <deleted>? 

 

 

[hobobo]

2 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Well, the army seemed absolutely desperate to cling to power and the rewriting of the constitution pretty much assured that. Now, the question is, can Thailand ever get rid of them? Or are they destined to be a backwards moving nation forever?

It took Thailand's neighbour to the northwest well over 50 years to only partially escape the clutches of the military. Unless Thailand takes urgent steps soon, it may fare far worse than the said neighbour.

[Kieran00001]

33 minutes ago, nchuckle said:

You don’t think there are any uneducated,simple minded mugs up country who wouldn’t believe when told 'We will know how you voted if you tuctic '. You’d have to be a mug not to understand that...

 

Well, that is not what the Khon Kaen University study demonstrated, they found that people took the money and voted for whoever they pleased.  And this happened up North like it did down South, and by the way, do you think you could keep your prejudices to yourself?

[spidermike007]

The Russians must have set up some Facebook pages, encouraging the Thai people to believe the army is competent. 

[moutamine]

Stop complaining... we need third world countries.  Thais are happy in this kind of familarity. Why push the Europeen or American model everywhere?  Everybody loves coming here where laws are approximate and rules not exactly defined or applied. It's a break from our strictly controlled homes with their income taxes, regulations, parking ticket, etc...

I personally enjoy the chaos that reign in this country and I say we should let it be for a few more generations. 

[Gecko123]

40 minutes ago, Nigel Garvie said:

The rich power elite in Bangkok are hanging onto the army for "protection" from the country poor. Bangkok generates 25% of the country's wealth, but consumes 75% of it, from statistics I read recently.

I believe the strategy is to keep people so impoverished that they no longer have the will or means to fight back. Ensuring a permanent supply of cheap labor for the elites. A powderkeg? No doubt, but TIT.

Edited March 26, 2019 by Gecko123

[bkkgriz]

Waaahh ???????? we didn't get the results we wanted. It's not fair. I'm going to stamp my feet and hold my breath until the results are changed or better yet hold elections until the results go the way we want. Oh, I hear Robert Mueller has some free time on his hands. Maybe he can look into Chinese collusion. Or Theresa May can negotiate. With her in charge you can be assured nobody will be happy and nothing will ever get done.

 

This is Thailand. Vote buying has been going in for decades. But I guess it's ok if one side is doing it. Am I a fan of the junta? No. I was in the army, believe me, those idiots should not be in charge of a cub scout troop. But were any politicians or governments any better?

 

Thailand is a corrupt, feudal country. If you don't understand that by now, I don't know what to tell you. I'd say you are a bit slow on the uptake, but you probably wouldn't understand that either.

[mmushr00m]

" It pointed to the fact that many ballots cast overseas were not delivered on time for vote counting, which caused them to be considered invalid. "

 

That definitely happened here.

They sent the Mrs the ballot with a prepaid return envelope.

Instead of dropping it into the mailbox, I decided to bring it to the post office. Since it was bulky they threw it on the scale and...... insufficient postage. Short by almost $1.

So every Thai here who simply put the envelope into the mailbox probably never got their vote counted.

[humbug]

1 hour ago, Homburg said:

"Election not free or fair, says poll monitor"  ROFL.  Next week's shocking headline: Water is wet.

why the downplay, even the western hacks can no longer keep downplaying what happened, but i am sure they will try to appease the nationslists

 

nice username by the way

[Pilotman]

at least they had elections.  When were the EU elections for the President of the EU Commission , the 28 EU Commissioners and the President of the EU?  Ah yes, there aren't any.  Well done the Thais;  shame on you Europe. 

[newarrior]

2 hours ago, dcutman said:

Leave.

You leave idiot..Typical brain dead farang response to anyone who expresses concern about conditions here..Go back to the bar and have another drink old man

[Derek B]

3 hours ago, mok199 said:

Russian collusion !

More like Chinese collusion..........Russia is too busy elswhere !!!

[Derek B]

2 hours ago, SABloke said:

If the rumors are true that people had to provide ID when taking bribe money, I can believe that quite a few would have for fear of retribution.

How come.............surely there is no traceable ID on a Thai ballot paper..........

[rebo]

41 minutes ago, DJ54 said:

let’s hope that something was learned from the past ...

Learned from the past?
In Thailand?
????

[Caine]

Did anyone really expect anything different, absolutely nothing in Thailand is free and fair is not in their vocabulary. All I know is we lost 2 Saturday nights in the bars for what ? that certainly wasn’t fair.

[Chongalulu]

40 minutes ago, Kieran00001 said:

 

Well, that is not what the Khon Kaen University study demonstrated, they found that people took the money and voted for whoever they pleased.  And this happened up North like it did down South, and by the way, do you think you could keep your prejudices to yourself?

So that’s why buying of votes has been going on for decades....because it doesn’t work..?? Khon Kaen university..? Remind me where that features in world rankings. And I think you mean 'opinions '. Perhaps you could keep your censorious attitude to yourself?