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Voting in the referendum of the draft constitution starts


rooster59

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Voting in the referendum of the draft constitution starts

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BANGKOK: People started streaming to polling units across the country to cast their votes of “yes” or “no” on the draft constitution and of “yes” or “no” on whether senators should be allowed to vote for the next prime minister in a historic referendum that will chart the political future of Thailand.
 

Among the early birds who showed up this morning to vote at a polling inside Sukhothai school in Dusit district of Bangkok was Privy Council president Prem Tinsulanonda.

 

General Prem has a permanent residence in Nakhon Ratchasima but he exercised his right to vote outside his constituency by voting in Dusit district.

The smiling statesman said he exercised his voting right and urged the other voters to do so and should not miss their opportunity to exercise the right.

Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan was the first to vote at a polling unit at Lat Phrao Soi 71 shortly before the voting started.

 

He urged voters to exercise their rights so that authorities concern would know the wishes of the people.

 

Culture Minister Veera Rotepotchanarat also showed up at about 8.30 am to vote in the referendum at a polling unit in Bangplad district. After casting the ballot, he told the media that he would like to invite all the voters to join in this history-making event to chart the direction of the country.

 

In Trang’s Muang district, one motorist was slightly injured when he crashed his car into a polling unit located on one side of the road at about 5 am today. The tent which was used as the polling unit collapsed and several chairs were scattered but the tent was quickly fixed.

 

It was suspected that the driver might have not seen the tent because it was not lighted and it was raining at the time of the mishap.

 

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/voting-referendum-draft-constitution-starts/

 

 

 
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-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2016-08-07

 

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9 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

It was suspected that the driver might have not seen the tent because it was not lighted and it was raining at the time of the mishap.

The abilty to properly organise a political event and attitudes to safety neatly encapsulated in one single event.

Was this counted as a No or a Yes vote?

RIP Thai democracy.

Edited by tuanku
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      Seeing as how official observers are not allowed at the polling I thought I might take an 'unofficial' look at the polling station in my village. All seemed fine, the locals were queueing in an orderly fashion to vote. The local tessaban and amphur officials in their khaki uniforms were running the show. No soldiers or policemen to be seen. There was one unarmed bloke in camouflage but he didn't appear to be regular army.

     There was (as far as I could see) no influence on the voting procedure. Voters were marked off the roll, given their voting card and proceeded to the private booth where they marked ballot paper, then placed it in the ballot box. There appeared to be nobody influencing anyone as to how to vote. Voters were however told to place their thumbprint on the ballot paper.

     I appreciate that this is only one out of 94,000 polling stations, and my village is not a particularly 'red' area, so I cannot say what steps the authorities may have taken in other areas.

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So if the referendum passes, it paves the way for at least five years of military rule or rule by cabinet and senate members that are appointed and basically controlled by the military.  If the referendum fails, then the military stays completely in power as it is now and the path forward is less clear.

 

This assumes that the referendum results are valid

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Why do I find the report about the failure of the EC reporting system (an app) only in the Bangkok Post (a source that must not be linked here)?

Or have I overlooked something?

 

The system was intended to enable the election chairpersons to report preliminary results via a smartphone app.

The whole thing is broken down and unusable for most stations.

Send FAX or phone, we will type it in is the new motto.

Welcome to the 70s'.

 

You can now believe that it is another Thai IT joke or speculate about another background :whistling:

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16 minutes ago, Toknarok said:

I appreciate that this is only one out of 94,000 polling stations, and my village is not a particularly 'red' area, so I cannot say what steps the authorities may have taken in other areas.

 

Two polling stations near our place, about 200 m apart :cheesy:

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is there something wrong in this report where it says DPM Prawit voted shortly BEFORE voting started so should it be AFTER or was the station opened early just for him  ?

If actually as stated wouldn't that be against the rules,     oh sorry I forgot who he is.

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46 minutes ago, NongKhaiKid said:

is there something wrong in this report where it says DPM Prawit voted shortly BEFORE voting started so should it be AFTER or was the station opened early just for him  ?

If actually as stated wouldn't that be against the rules,     oh sorry I forgot who he is.

 

Completely opposite to what The Nation writes.

 

Quote

8:00 am: More than 20 police officers guard the 12th polling booth on Pradipat Soi 5 , where Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha is scheduled to cast a ballot this morning. An army or reporters is waiting for him there.

 

Quote

9.10am: Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha casts his vote at the 12th polling booth in Soi Pradipat 5. After casting his vote, Prayut encourages Thai people to go voting.

 

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Charter-referendum-as-it-happens-30292326.html

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Prat wi "urged voters to exercise their rights so that authorities concern would know the wishes of the people"!

This Thai PBS translation is about as garbled and misleading as the usurpers roadmap when it comes to the wishes of the people.

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1 hour ago, NongKhaiKid said:

is there something wrong in this report where it says DPM Prawit voted shortly BEFORE voting started so should it be AFTER or was the station opened early just for him  ?

If actually as stated wouldn't that be against the rules,     oh sorry I forgot who he is.

 

Or might it just be some of the more usual translating genius reporting?

 

Don't stop a good conspiracy theory though. PTP win an election, everything clean and wonderful. They loose the Don Meuang "safe" seat and "certain" Bangkok governor elections and all must be rigged because as Thaksin the Innocent said he "could even win the Bangkok governor election if he put a phone pole up". 

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2 hours ago, rooster59 said:

General Prem has a permanent residence in Nakhon Ratchasima but he exercised his right to vote outside his constituency by voting in Dusit district.

 

Hmmmmm     everyone else has to go back to their "home" provinces to vote ??

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16 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Or might it just be some of the more usual translating genius reporting?

 

Don't stop a good conspiracy theory though. PTP win an election, everything clean and wonderful. They loose the Don Meuang "safe" seat and "certain" Bangkok governor elections and all must be rigged because as Thaksin the Innocent said he "could even win the Bangkok governor election if he put a phone pole up". 

 

16 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Or might it just be some of the more usual translating genius reporting?

 

Don't stop a good conspiracy theory though. PTP win an election, everything clean and wonderful. They loose the Don Meuang "safe" seat and "certain" Bangkok governor elections and all must be rigged because as Thaksin the Innocent said he "could even win the Bangkok governor election if he put a phone pole up". 

I did question the accuracy in my first sentence but where does a conspiracy,  PTP and Thaksin come from  ?

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Hmmmmm     everyone else has to go back to their "home" provinces to vote ??

People could have registered to vote outside their home constituencies if they had wanted to.

Apparently, only 1% of eligible voters chose this option.

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2 hours ago, Toknarok said:

      Seeing as how official observers are not allowed at the polling I thought I might take an 'unofficial' look at the polling station in my village. All seemed fine, the locals were queueing in an orderly fashion to vote. The local tessaban and amphur officials in their khaki uniforms were running the show. No soldiers or policemen to be seen. There was one unarmed bloke in camouflage but he didn't appear to be regular army.

     There was (as far as I could see) no influence on the voting procedure. Voters were marked off the roll, given their voting card and proceeded to the private booth where they marked ballot paper, then placed it in the ballot box. There appeared to be nobody influencing anyone as to how to vote. Voters were however told to place their thumbprint on the ballot paper.

     I appreciate that this is only one out of 94,000 polling stations, and my village is not a particularly 'red' area, so I cannot say what steps the authorities may have taken in other areas.

Neither the vote or the count are being independently monitored.  Why bother stuffing thousand of ballot boxes or intimidating voters when you can make sure the count is done in a favorable manner?

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1 hour ago, KhunBENQ said:

 

Completely opposite to what The Nation writes.

 

 

 

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Charter-referendum-as-it-happens-30292326.html

Voters being arrested for tearing their ballot paper in two so if they were genuinely confused will their explanation be accepted or will someone have to be made an example of  ?

Might depend if the ballot paper showed they voted NO  !    :gigglem:

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2 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

Why do I find the report about the failure of the EC reporting system (an app) only in the Bangkok Post (a source that must not be linked here)?

Or have I overlooked something?

 

The system was intended to enable the election chairpersons to report preliminary results via a smartphone app.

The whole thing is broken down and unusable for most stations.

Send FAX or phone, we will type it in is the new motto.

Welcome to the 70s'.

 

You can now believe that it is another Thai IT joke or speculate about another background :whistling:

Maybe the system crash is unintentional? ;)

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my esan girl (where else would she be from) just burst into the bedroom saying in an excited voice that 1 million percent sure the refferendum has passed, or so it is being reported on the TV. it is 4pm and i am wondering how they came to a conclusion so fast. i am also wondering if she really knows what it is all about. if the army keeps taking away the incentives for foreign investment this country is going to suffer horribly. foreign investment down 90% so far this year. manufacturing is going to be in a very bad way. tourism is suffering. that only really leaves farming. just have to hope there are no more droughts. it is the poor people who suffer the most when things get bad. thailand has alot of poor people.

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13 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

A this time of posting, the Yes vote is ahead. That's 27% of votes counted. Let's see later. Whatever the outcome, all should respect the people wishes assuming nothing is rigged. 

 

yes Eric the completely fair referendum where no debate was allowed should be 'respected'

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It looks like the last referendum, overwhelmingly passed in the South and Central region but rejected in Issan and the North. Still the numbers are for it to pass comfortably, the TV is talking about 75% turnout too.

So the biggest party in the next Parliament will be the 500 appointed senators, who will join them, PheuaThai or the Democrats?

Do the majority of the population even respect politicians anymore after the havoc of the last 10 years? After all both major party leaders publicly announced they would vote no. Perhaps many people think the politicians deserve to have their wings clipped.

Thaksin and Yingluk can take comfort that under the new constitution they can appeal any convictions in the Supreme Court Criminal Division for Political Office Holders.

And hopefully Jatupon will followup his promise of leaving politics for 10 years if the constitution passed the referendum.

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I spoke with some "normal / average" Thai people about this referendum. Most of them, are too scared to speak what they really think. I'm sure, many Thais had voted yes, only because they afraid about possible consequences if they hadn't.

 

No doubt the end result will be Yes.

Edited by alocacoc
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7 hours ago, Toknarok said:

      Seeing as how official observers are not allowed at the polling I thought I might take an 'unofficial' look at the polling station in my village. All seemed fine, the locals were queueing in an orderly fashion to vote. The local tessaban and amphur officials in their khaki uniforms were running the show. No soldiers or policemen to be seen. There was one unarmed bloke in camouflage but he didn't appear to be regular army.

     There was (as far as I could see) no influence on the voting procedure. Voters were marked off the roll, given their voting card and proceeded to the private booth where they marked ballot paper, then placed it in the ballot box. There appeared to be nobody influencing anyone as to how to vote. Voters were however told to place their thumbprint on the ballot paper.

     I appreciate that this is only one out of 94,000 polling stations, and my village is not a particularly 'red' area, so I cannot say what steps the authorities may have taken in other areas.

Is it usual in Thailand  (or anywhere)

To have to put your thumbprint on the ballot. Kind of deletes your anonymity as to which way you voted. 

Civil workers and soldiers better vote in the right way as it might effect their job prospects. 

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