Draft Charter In Issan

[roietjimmy]

Everyone in the village is preparing to vote on the draft constitution charter. Seems all have made up their minds to vote no. Of course, none have actually read the charter but have been told by the big guy (Pu Yai Moobaan) to vote no because if they vote yes, Thailand will have military rule. Seems the "vote no" lobby has a well established network in Isaan.

What are you hearing in your village?

[Tilapia]

Everyone in the village is preparing to vote on the draft constitution charter. Seems all have made up their minds to vote no. Of course, none have actually read the charter but have been told by the big guy (Pu Yai Moobaan) to vote no because if they vote yes, Thailand will have military rule. Seems the "vote no" lobby has a well established network in Isaan.

What are you hearing in your village?

Here it seems to be yes, people are happy to get Newin out, voting no might get him back, so overall it is yes in our area.

Regards

[roietjimmy]

Last-ditch bid to reject draft in Isaan

EC reports vote-buying and misinformation

Published on August 19, 2007

The Election Com-mission yesterday reported widespread last-ditch attempts to defeat the draft charter, particularly in lower-North-eastern provinces.

"Efforts to rig the national referendum's outcome have been uncovered mostly in Isaan, including in Buri Ram province, where the number of complaints is very high," EC chairman Apichart Sukhagganond said.

He said the EC would strictly enforce disciplinary measures against government officials who failed to remain neutral. He also called on police to take stern action against persons attempting to influence votes.

He was confident the counting of votes would go smoothly and that the unofficial results from 88,000 polling stations nationwide would be available before 9pm today.

The official outcome should be known before 2pm tomorrow.

In light of tightened security, the referendum vote in the South is not expected to be marred by violence, he said. The deployment of soldiers and police to keep peace had increased three fold and every polling station had a contingency plan to complete the voting regardless of any insurgent attacks.

Almost 16,000 soldiers would guard some 2,500 polling stations in the four southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat and Songkhla.

EC secretary general Suthiphon Thaveechaigarn said that two days before the referendum, the EC had received about 17 complaints about activities by those favouring rejection of the charter.

"Charter opponents have relied on misinformation, vote-buying, promised favours and mailing leaflets to persuade voters," he said.

The anti-charter message of most serious concern was the misinformation that the junta would revive the suspended 1997 Constitution to bring about a general election should the charter be rejected, he said.

"Authorities are closely monitoring anti-charter activities in the North and Northeast, including money trails," he said.

The EC had completed all preparations for the vote and expected a turnout of more than 60 per cent, he said.

Some two million officials are involved in running the referendum for 45.6 million eligible voters.

Kanchanaburi's Muang (city) district chief Pichai Thitisak said he had seized more than 5,000 anti-charter leaflets mailed to voters.

Messages in the leaflets included "Advance the Election Day forward by defeating the charter", "Dangerous charter provisions allowing house search without a warrant" and "Dangerous charter provisions cancelling Bt30 gold-card healthcare".

Villagers in Sa Kaew, Buri Ram and Nakhon Phanom reported receiving 500 anti-charter flyers.

They also notified authorities about rumours that Buddhist monks would be evicted from their temples if the charter passed in the referendum.

In Kalasin, residents said they were offered Bt200 each if they cast votes against the charter.

The Second Army Region has kept close tabs on anti-charter campaigners in Buri Ram, Surin and Udon Thani with the aim of gathering evidence for prosecution.

EC member Sodsri Satayatham yesterday inspected polling stations in Bangkok to ensure readiness for today's vote.

Sodsri said voters were free to dress in any colour, including red, the colour representing the anti-charter movement.

Interior Ministry permanent secretary Pongpayom Wasaputi said provincial governors and local authorities expected more than 70 per cent of voters in rural areas to cast ballots.

The Metropolitan Police Bureau has mobilised more than 13,000 policemen to keep peace in Bangkok. Anti-riot forces were ordered to stand by for any attempts to disrupt the voting.

The Council for National Security spokesman Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnoed urged voters to cast ballots in order to advance the country.

"The CNS just wants to see the people decide their own future through a referendum - your vote is not about the CNS or former prime minister Thaksin but about the direction of the country," he said.

First Army Region commander Lt-General Prayuth Chan-ocha said soldiers would assist police to maintain security throughout the capital.

[Bicko]

Hey Jimmy what is this referendum all about. Is there a good website where i can get the details. The family go and vote and they haven't got a clue what they are voting for.

Sorry to be so dumb but i am out of the country for a few weeks and missed the lead up to this.

[Gary A]

I think it'll pass big in this area. Not that they like it so much but they are anxious to get an elected government in. My wife voted for it to pass.

[Mid]

she's currently in the minority GaryA

http://202.60.199.51/en/?zone=4

[thedi]

Here the voting is over now. The result was a small majority against the new constitution.

As the original poster stated: nobody had actually ready it.

[roietjimmy]

Hey Jimmy what is this referendum all about. Is there a good website where i can get the details. The family go and vote and they haven't got a clue what they are voting for.

Sorry to be so dumb but i am out of the country for a few weeks and missed the lead up to this.

It is a vote to approve/disapprove the new draft constitution. There is an english version of the draft. I will find it and send you the link.

Mids post has a link to the vote counter.

[roietjimmy]

Everyone in the village is preparing to vote on the draft constitution charter. Seems all have made up their minds to vote no. Of course, none have actually read the charter but have been told by the big guy (Pu Yai Moobaan) to vote no because if they vote yes, Thailand will have military rule. Seems the "vote no" lobby has a well established network in Isaan.

What are you hearing in your village?

Here it seems to be yes, people are happy to get Newin out, voting no might get him back, so overall it is yes in our area.

Regards

You seem to have predicted correctly. The get Newin out factor is a major factor.

[citizen33]

Everyone in the village is preparing to vote on the draft constitution charter. Seems all have made up their minds to vote no. Of course, none have actually read the charter but have been told by the big guy (Pu Yai Moobaan) to vote no because if they vote yes, Thailand will have military rule. Seems the "vote no" lobby has a well established network in Isaan.

What are you hearing in your village?

Here it seems to be yes, people are happy to get Newin out, voting no might get him back, so overall it is yes in our area.

Regards

You seem to have predicted correctly. The get Newin out factor is a major factor.

Surely his prediction for Isaan is incorrect, since most in the region voted 'no'. Overall at national level it is shaping up as a 'yes', but perhaps by too narrow a margin to banish continuing opposition.

Edited August 19, 2007 by citizen33

[Thaddeus]

Current standings at the time of this post......

Overall

Yes : 14,249,520

No : 10,419,912

North East Region.

Yes : 2,882,159

No : 4,845,014

The next few hours could get interesting.

[Solosiam]

Definitely something fishy going on, I'm 100% sure that most villagers have absolutely no idea what this vote is really for. Some of that gossip about the voting speaks volumes, villagers love gossip.

[Gary A]

she's currently in the minority GaryA

http://202.60.199.51/en/?zone=4

I'm a little surprised. Then again my wife can be accurately described as hua kang. Once she makes up her mind, there's no changing it. A couple of weeks ago some guy wearing a red head band was telling her bad the new constitution was and that it should be voted down. She didn't like him at all.

[bdenner]

The so called exit polls do not seem to reflect the count ratio thus far here in Isaan (NE Thailand.)

Our village has 350 registered voters of which 301 attended the polling place. My TW is our equivalent to the 'Returning Officer' and told me of the count. The percentages are very close to what was recorded in the Amphur.

51 Yes 16.9%

247 No 82%

2 Invalid 0.66%

Edited August 20, 2007 by bdenner

[Thaddeus]

The next few hours could get interesting.

Well, they didn't. I expected the overall turnout to be higher than it was.

The next few months could get very interesting though.

[Aujuba]

A lot of Northeasterners in BKK probably didn't even bother to return home. Many just went home for Kao Pansa and Mother's day. Who wants to go back and forth 5 to 10 hours to vote. The workers in Bangkok generally have more education. Not many people with high school or university degrees continue on as farmers.

[roietjimmy]

Unofficial results.

Over 7.5M registered voters from Isaan did not vote indicating many just didn't make the trip home. Not saying they all would have but had a greater percentage made the trip the vote would have been much closer. Also, the vote in the north was nearly 50/50. Would expect a big change here in the upcoming election, if a no vote was really support the former TRT party. With over 50% of the countries voters from the Northeast and North, the Democrats are far from a shoe in, especially if the former TRT guys can muster the support they had in previous elections.

Vote_1.xls

Edited August 20, 2007 by roietjimmy

[fruity]

To read all these posts it seems that at least some Thai people actually understood what the vote was all about. In my neck of the woods nobody understood, the wifes parents both voting NO for all the wrong reasons.lol..Everyone we spoke to hadn't a clue, my university educated wife didn't either and was much relieved when some academic on tv stated that he hadn't a clue either:) In time, like all things the result will signify nothing.

[roietjimmy]

To read all these posts it seems that at least some Thai people actually understood what the vote was all about. In my neck of the woods nobody understood, the wifes parents both voting NO for all the wrong reasons.lol..Everyone we spoke to hadn't a clue, my university educated wife didn't either and was much relieved when some academic on tv stated that he hadn't a clue either:) In time, like all things the result will signify nothing.

I see your a Winston Churchill fan:

The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.

Winston Churchill

Edited August 20, 2007 by roietjimmy

[fruity]

Good old Winnie. Yes; I am a great fan:).....I guess I'm just a very liberal Tory at heart:)

[oceanrover]

My wife is actually back home north of Ubon visiting family so she was able to vote. She said that there were many men walking around the village explaining to the people “what they needed to know” about the new constitution. Of these they included the fact that if the constitution is voted down, Thaksin will be returned to his post as PM. She of course questioned the validity of this claim and was ignored by the “Vote No” lobbyists as they went on to spout another claim that new and improved programs that benefit the people of Isaan specifically have already been created and would not be implemented if the constitution was ratified. My wife and her very large family voted YES for the most part from what I gather as they decided that they needed to move forward and this was the first step towards an open election. She confirmed that those she spoke with that voted NO had not read the constitution and based their decision on the word of others or on the fact that they were not pleased with the method that it came about. So I asked my wife if she actually read the new constitution and she said NO. So maybe many of the YES voters are voting for other reasons as well.

Mike in Seattle