EC defends its procurement of voting machines

BANGKOK, 15 December 2015 (NNT) - The Election Commission of Thailand (EC) has defended its procurement of voting machines, following corruption allegations by former EC member Phuchong Nutrawong.

Mr. Phuchong previously warned the public to keep an eye on the EC’s procurement of new voting machines. He claimed that as much as 10 billion baht could be spent on installing the machines in 95,000 voting stations across Thailand.

Election Commissioner Somchai Srisuthiyakorn has countered that only 10 million baht will be used to procure the 200 additional machines for the 2017 elections in Bangkok. He added that none of the new voting machines will be used at the five voting stations in Bangkok for the public referendum next year.

In defense of the procurement plan, Mr. Somchai argued that the existing machines are outdated and not suitable for every type of voting available. The new touchscreen machines will also include information on each political party’s policies and details of each candidate.


-- NNT 2015-12-15

Every time there is a procurement plans for a new items for use by the people the group that brought the

idea about is bickering with the group that didn't think of it first and thus may lose a lucrative pay day

and a commission kickback... not the goodness of Thailand is what they think of, but of a missed

opportunity....

Anyway these machines will have time to rust before the next elections....

Anyway these machines will have time to rust before the next elections....

That plus they'll probably be empty shells (like those CCTV cameras) with free games of Pac-Man on them to keep people occupied for a few minutes inside the voting booth.

And just when you think the last daft purchase was the best of the lot it gets beaten!

Anyway these machines will have time to rust before the next elections....

Just like the old machines were rusted as most were not in use due to the poll station blockages. Maintenance and upgrading are never in the working mindset of Thais. Just buy the new toys and fringe benefits that goes along with it.

Ha ha. Machine for an election that will never occur. They may be hollow, or built by the British bomb detector firm. Cheaper they are, the more profit for everyone involved!

Voting machines great idea here: no paper trail for a recount.

And if these machines contain information on the parties and policies, is it thought that voters will read this. If so they nee a machine for just about every voter.

Seems that they think that the people voting don't know who they have chosen before voting day!!

If they are going to use voting machines nationwide they need to reserve at least four days for voting. How many times have you gone to an ATM and there was someone just standing there staring at the machine, push a few choices, stand and stare again until someone comes by and does their transaction for them?

The EC in charge of voting machines? It's the end of all hope.

Anyway these machines will have time to rust before the next elections....

Plenty of time to perfect rigging the machines to register the votes wanted irrespective of the voters selection.

Anyway these machines will have time to rust before the next elections....

Plenty of time to perfect rigging the machines to register the votes wanted irrespective of the voters selection.

I wouldn't doubt that at all after seeing how they rigged the national lottery.

I thought Thailand already had Voting Machines? They are called tanks.

Voting machines.....nice....at least you'll know who wins even before the elections