Did Thailand just have its cleanest ever election?

[webfact]

Thailand’s Election Commission, on Thursday, certified the result of the May 14 election less than two weeks after the polls were held. It might be the fastest certification ever in Thailand’s electoral history.

 

One only has to look back to the previous election to see what the usual post-election landscape was like with red and yellow cards handed to candidates for vote-buying or campaign violations.

 

Yet in this historic election, when there were plenty on the ground incidents being reported on social media and the press, there was apparently no issue at all?

 

By Thai Enquirer

 

Full story: https://www.thaienquirer.com/49779/did-thailand-just-have-its-cleanest-ever-election/

 

-- © Copyright Thai Enquirer 2023-05-26

 

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[quake]

Maybe be,

But the dirty laundry is still under the table.

Wonder how long before it all starts to smell.

TIT.

[anchadian]

And yet another thread on the election.

Just waiting for the next one which should be very soon.

[OneMoreFarang]

My gf told me that in her village someone collected the ID card from her father and many other people, and they each received 500B. After the election the ID cards were returned.

Did anybody complain?

Was that somehow investigated?

I have my doubts.

 

I think it is impossible for outsiders to estimate how corrupt the Thai elections are. And insiders are smart enough to keep the dirty details away from the public.

 

And now the lucrative posts are assigned, or is it more correct to say they go to the highest bidder?

 

TiT

[h90]

6 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

My gf told me that in her village someone collected the ID card from her father and many other people, and they each received 500B. After the election the ID cards were returned.

Did anybody complain?

Was that somehow investigated?

I have my doubts.

 

I think it is impossible for outsiders to estimate how corrupt the Thai elections are. And insiders are smart enough to keep the dirty details away from the public.

 

And now the lucrative posts are assigned, or is it more correct to say they go to the highest bidder?

 

TiT

I don't want to excuse the vote buying, but the same happens with every election ????

[mfd101]

17 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

My gf told me that in her village someone collected the ID card from her father and many other people, and they each received 500B. After the election the ID cards were returned.

Did anybody complain?

Was that somehow investigated?

I have my doubts.

 

I think it is impossible for outsiders to estimate how corrupt the Thai elections are. And insiders are smart enough to keep the dirty details away from the public.

 

And now the lucrative posts are assigned, or is it more correct to say they go to the highest bidder?

 

TiT

And The People let it happen because they're too lazy to line up to vote, and too lazy to protest.

 

As in every country The People get what they vote for, or fail to vote against.

[ikke1959]

15 minutes ago, mfd101 said:

And The People let it happen because they're too lazy to line up to vote, and too lazy to protest.

 

As in every country The People get what they vote for, or fail to vote against.

The people are not lazy to complain, but why should they? They get a day wage or sometimes 2 daywages for a vote.. It is because the people are so very low paid that this can happen. Easy money for them in expensive times, as schools opened, and electricity and gas are more expensive. So why should they protest? They got money, and the outcome of the electiosn who cares.. Most Governments do what they like as we have seen here too the last 20 years. Hopefully now there will be some changes, but there are a lot of conservative people here who still are brainwashed with traditions not of this time anymore..

[OneMoreFarang]

28 minutes ago, mfd101 said:

And The People let it happen because they're too lazy to line up to vote, and too lazy to protest.

 

As in every country The People get what they vote for, or fail to vote against.

Another option is that they just don't care about politics, like nothing will ever change and it doesn't matter who I vote for. Is that a good attitude? Not really. But I am sure lots of people have it and they wouldn't know who do vote for to make their life better. 

[Moonlover]

My wife was very late to bed on the night before the election (I nearly wrote the wrong word there ????)

 

Her explanation was that she, along with her family cohorts had been waiting up to see if anyone else was likely to turn up with a 'better offer'.

 

I just shrug my shoulders at this sort of thing. Not my country, not my business.

[Eloquent pilgrim]

2 hours ago, KannikaP said:

So Pain In The Ass (PITA) is boss now?

Are you referring to the leader of the Move Forward party, the party that received 14,438,851 votes in the election; almost 3 and a half million votes more than their nearest rival ….. you’re obviously not a fan of democracy then ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Eric Loh]

The overwhelming win by a novice youthful party really lay rest the notion that voting buying can influence election. The money bag traditional parties will continue to pay cash and kind to voters but will not gurantee loyalty at the ballot boxes. The record turn-out of voters also put to bed any prattle that Thais are lazy to vote. Thais are not uneducated nor ill informed of political issues to come out to vote for the party that they want to lead the country. They care about their economic and social well being and vote to get a better life. This election is a game changer for so many reasons and should dispell much of the parochial thoughts of Thais. The demographic has changed. 

[h90]

4 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

The overwhelming win by a novice youthful party really lay rest the notion that voting buying can influence election. The money bag traditional parties will continue to pay cash and kind to voters but will not gurantee loyalty at the ballot boxes. The record turn-out of voters also put to bed any prattle that Thais are lazy to vote. Thais are not uneducated nor ill informed of political issues to come out to vote for the party that they want to lead the country. They care about their economic and social well being and vote to get a better life. This election is a game changer for so many reasons and should dispell much of the parochial thoughts of Thais. The demographic has changed. 

I don't know which parties die vote buying but MF is one of the best funded, so I would not exclude them. PTP always pays. Democrats also did. And there was a 75% voter turnout even per law you must vote so I think that is pretty low.

[tgw]

AFAIK, there was some kind of a crackdown against vote buying in the few days before the election.

 

As it was just some days before the election (maybe a week?), old parties used to buying votes did so earlier than a week before.

 

I also heard rumours that many voters took the 1000 baht and then voted orange instead of red/yellow. There is nothing better for stopping vote buying than that IMO ! well done !

[Eric Loh]

7 minutes ago, h90 said:

I don't know which parties die vote buying but MF is one of the best funded, so I would not exclude them. PTP always pays. Democrats also did. And there was a 75% voter turnout even per law you must vote so I think that is pretty low.

There is no 75% turnout voters laws. It is complusory for registered voters. MFP is grassroot funded. You need to explain how they are best funded being a young party against the traditional parties that has history of fundings. 

[h90]

8 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

There is no 75% turnout voters laws. It is complusory for registered voters. MFP is grassroot funded. You need to explain how they are best funded being a young party against the traditional parties that has history of fundings. 

Yes you must vote and 25% are so uninterested that they even brake the law. That is not a high voter turnout.....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanathorn_Juangroongruangkit

one of the richest families he is the owner of the party...

 

 

 

[Eric Loh]

1 minute ago, h90 said:

Yes you must vote and 25% are so uninterested that they even brake the law. That is not a high voter turnout.....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanathorn_Juangroongruangkit

one of the richest families he is the owner of the party...

 

 

 

Please get this into your head. If you not registered for voting, you not mandated to vote. Figure that out. 
 

The founder of party can’t donate large sums to party. That’s what got him into trouble and party dissolution. For goodness sake, read the Political Party Act before making asinine posting. 

[KannikaP]

1 hour ago, Eloquent pilgrim said:

Are you referring to the leader of the Move Forward party, the party that received 14,438,851 votes in the election; almost 3 and a half million votes more than their nearest rival ….. you’re obviously not a fan of democracy then ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Quite the opposite. I want PITA to be the new PM. I was only pointing out what PITA meant in American.

[h90]

5 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

Please get this into your head. If you not registered for voting, you not mandated to vote. Figure that out. 
 

The founder of party can’t donate large sums to party. That’s what got him into trouble and party dissolution. For goodness sake, read the Political Party Act before making asinine posting. 

he did donate a lot last time why you think this time it was different? PTP always pays out a fortune and never got caught.

 

Voter turnout during elections is not much of a problem in Thailand as voting is compulsory and is one of the responsibilities described in the Constitution a citizen must exercise.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_in_Thailand

 

And as stated there: 2019: 75% 2011: 75% 2007: 85%

So it is not very high it is just normal as always....

[Joe Farang]

In the West

Vote for me

    I will cut taxes.

    I will create jobs.

    I will improve healthcare.

None of the above happens.

 

In Thailand.

Vote for me

   I will give you 1,000 Baht

Voter gets 1,000 Baht

 

Which system of vote buying is more honest?

 

[MrMojoRisin]

10 minutes ago, h90 said:

Every time it is around +/- 75% it was this time not much higher or lower than normal....so no people didn't run to the election more than last time

Turnout is very high in Thailand when compared to the rest of the world - it’s almost as if there has been an epic battle raging between dictatorship and democracy here over the past two decades… regardless, such high turnout makes any claims of voter apathy disingenuous (if not outright dishonest).

[MrMojoRisin]

33 minutes ago, h90 said:

In most or all of these countries there are no laws that tells you that you must vote. You compare 2 different situations.

On the chart, only Belgium and Switzerland have compulsory voting.

 

Guess you’re wrong again.

[sammieuk1]

Must have been cleanish the generals are out ???? 

[jayboy]

1 hour ago, Eric Loh said:

The overwhelming win by a novice youthful party really lay rest the notion that voting buying can influence election. The money bag traditional parties will continue to pay cash and kind to voters but will not gurantee loyalty at the ballot boxes. The record turn-out of voters also put to bed any prattle that Thais are lazy to vote. Thais are not uneducated nor ill informed of political issues to come out to vote for the party that they want to lead the country. They care about their economic and social well being and vote to get a better life. This election is a game changer for so many reasons and should dispell much of the parochial thoughts of Thais. The demographic has changed. 

Absolutely right.In fact it has been impossible to rig elections in Thailand for several decades.Vote buying exists but it does not play a decisive role.

[proton]

They got 1000k baht each in Samut Prakan- all for the party which lost.

Edited May 26, 2023 by proton

[Eric Loh]

11 minutes ago, h90 said:

Guess I am right again....Thailand get there because it is compulsory....and Thailand get there every election. So there is no bigger interests in politics now than before....It is only your bubble who dream from a socialist revolution. Most people care about their life and how they can improve it and not about politics 

You can’t be taken seriously. 
 

https://thethaiger.com/news/national/record-breaking-bangkok-has-highest-turnout-in-voter-history

 

https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/14/asia/thailand-elections-vote-result-monday-intl-hnk/index.html

[metisdead]

A post with an American trolling acronym definition and the replies have been removed.

 

A post with an unattributed chart and the replies have been removed.   This topic is not about compulsory voting in other countries. 

 

And a chart with content that was copy and pasted from some site without a supporting link to the source of "information" and the replies have been removed. 

 

An inflammatory post and the replies have been removed.

[hotchilli]

2 hours ago, Eric Loh said:

The overwhelming win by a novice youthful party really lay rest the notion that voting buying can influence election. The money bag traditional parties will continue to pay cash and kind to voters but will not gurantee loyalty at the ballot boxes. The record turn-out of voters also put to bed any prattle that Thais are lazy to vote. Thais are not uneducated nor ill informed of political issues to come out to vote for the party that they want to lead the country. They care about their economic and social well being and vote to get a better life. This election is a game changer for so many reasons and should dispell much of the parochial thoughts of Thais. The demographic has changed. 

There are two types of vote buying in Thailand:

#1 the type that promises you untold riches after they win the election

#2 the type that pays you 500 baht and votes for you

[kennw]

yes

[kennw]

5 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

My gf told me that in her village someone collected the ID card from her father and many other people, and they each received 500B. After the election the ID cards were returned.

Did anybody complain?

Was that somehow investigated?

I have my doubts.

 

I think it is impossible for outsiders to estimate how corrupt the Thai elections are. And insiders are smart enough to keep the dirty details away from the public.

 

And now the lucrative posts are assigned, or is it more correct to say they go to the highest bidder?

 

TiT

Look at what the question asked, Yes relative to previous elections.

[French mate]

In the place i live in Sriracha, their have come door to door and offered 1000 bath to my wife and my others neighbors for a vote to the Prayut party.
As spoiled farang wife she say no.
I told her she should have accept and vote for whoever she want after !