EC Clarifies Overseas Travel Ahead of Upcoming Election

[snoop1130]

 

BANGKOK (NNT) - The Election Commission (EC) has clarified the reason for its members traveling abroad during the Songkran holidays, explaining that they were performing inspections ahead of this year’s general election.

 

Following allegations that the EC was spending taxpayer money on overseas trips, EC Chairman Ittiporn Boonpracong explained that the inspections were necessary to oversee advance voting preparations in the run up to the May 14 election.

 

Chairman Ittiporn explained EC members recently returned from inspection visits to Morocco, Kenya and South Africa, noting that the budget for these inspections had already been approved by the House of Representatives, which also assessed the EC’s policies and strategies.

 

The chairman added that the embassies in these nations are among seven across Africa that will assist Thai citizens who are eligible to vote in the election. He stressed that the EC is coordinating with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to oversee ballot transportation and assured that ballots collected abroad would be transferred to Thailand by May 9.

 

Source: https://thainews.prd.go.th/en/news/detail/TCATG230419125107358

 

-- © Copyright NNT 2023-04-19

 

- Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

 

The most versatile and flexible rental investment and holiday home solution in Thailand - click for more information.

[Srikcir]

Large Thai communities are in the US, China, Laos, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, South Korea, Australia, Canada, Sweden, Malaysia, Germany, Norway and UAE. In Africa it's Libya. 

But the EC travel seems focused on apparently on lesser Thai populations in three other African nations?

Maybe because of historical low numbers of Thai voters in the three mentioned African nations, the Thai embassies there mught have been less organized regarding absentee voting?

But from a cost effectiveness perspective, I'd think the nations with large Thai qualified voters would receive travel priority for the EC. Why wasn't Libya visited?

Also what about Australia? In the last election the embassy reportedly could not deliver the absentee votes to the EC in time to be counted. 

[Emster23]

whatever vital info they had to share in those 3 unusual countries could have been sent via a zoom call, one might think. Just because trips were approved by legislature hardly gives them the good housekeeping seal of approval

[hotchilli]

20 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The Election Commission (EC) has clarified the reason for its members traveling abroad during the Songkran holidays, explaining that they were performing inspections ahead of this year’s general election.

Yeah okay..... nice time for a jolly though?