Oddspot

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Great hearing, poor (in)sight

I include this report from the Bangkok Post in our “oddspot” category because it is a good example of just how bad some political commentary in Thailand can be. I am all in favour of electoral monitoring and the fearless reporting of irregularities but this sort of unsubstantiated rumour-mongering just encourages those who are reluctant to accept electoral decisions.

There may have been manipulation of vote counting by some groups of people as the counting process of yesterday’s election was far from fool proof, said Asian Network for Free Election (Anfrel) executive director Somsri Harn-anantasuk, just hours after the voting was over. “If you bribe poll officers, you can do whatever you like,” she said, in reference to some polling stations were very few or virtually no independent observers of the counting were presence and a few polling stations were found to be in that condition. Somsri added that the fact that marker pens were not used to mark ballot papers also make the visibility of ballot papers very low for election observers and they couldn’t be sure if the vote announced by election staff match the real vote that was cast or not. “I couldn’t see myself even where I wear spectacle,” said Somsri. Somsri said there are signs that vote buying was quite widespread though she’s not sure if it was more rampant than in the past. She added that she heard a Bangkok canvasser engaging in vote buying with her own ears just a few days before the poll.

Three votes for PPP

From the Sydney Morning Herald: Thaksin Shinawatra’s children, from left, Phantongtae, Pinthongta and Paethongtan, vote in Bangkok.

Some excuses better than others

From the Bangkok Post:

In Kamphaeng Phet, 75 year old Prasith Ngamsuay tore his ballot because he wanted a new one after making a wrong mark.

In Prachuap Khiri Khan, 73 year old Samreng Chuadee tore her ballot because she believed she had to make it into two pieces.

In Samut Sakhon, Yen Chatthan tore his ballot because he was drunk.

Yen, you are a disgrace.

Grass roots

(With thanks to 2bangkok.com: People Power Party leader Samak is above ground, but the underground roots are Thaksin.)

Number confusion

AW in Canberra, 7.15 PM: Voting in Thailand can be a confusing business given the large number of parties and candidates. Life is made even more difficult by the fact that ballot papers do not list candidate or party names, just numbers. Voters have to remember the numbers of the candidates that they want to vote for. I just heard about one unfortunate voter who cast a pre-poll vote last weekend. His home is in Chiang Mai but he cast his vote in Bangkok. Unfortunately he voted according to the Bangkok candidate numbers meaning that when his ballot is counted in Chiang Mai he will have voted for candidates from another party! One less vote, I suspect, for PPP!

Vote buying and viagra

AW in Canberra, 23 December: One of the persistent themes of the 2007 election campaign has been the fear of vote buying. Political elites in Thailand like to talk a lot about vote buying (often in the absence of any good evidence) because it gives them a good excuse to dismiss the legitimacy of any electoral decision they don’t like. The Election Commission of Thailand has even made the rejection of vote buying and selling a central plank in their promotional campaign: “Thais unite against vote selling.”

Charges of vote buying reached new heights during this campaign with one candidate accusing others of distributing viagra as an incentive for voters (and their wives?).