New Election Rules Designed to Keep Junta in Power

[Nereus]

Wasn't me! Classic case of passing the buck:
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Late ballots from NZ delayed for days at air cargo warehouses

https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/genera ... recent_box

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday explained what happened in the late delivery of 1,542 ballots from advance voting in New Zealand that were consequently declared invalid.

The ballots were dispatched on time by the embassy, but delayed at air cargo warehouses in Auckland, New Zealand.
The ministry said in a press statement that it had worked with the Election Commission and Thailand Post tinsetting joint guidelines for the delivery of the ballots from overseas advance voting. The delivery deadline was set at 8pm on March 23, the night before polling day.

The ministry said there were several procedures to ensure tight security in the deliveries.

The Thai embassy had dispatched the sack of ballots from Wellington via Air New Zealand on March 18, and it arrived in Auckland the same day. The ballots were due to depart on Thai Airways International flight TG 492 on March 19.

The sack was delivered to a THAI cargo warehouse in Auckland on March 21.

On March 22, the Thai embassy contacted airline staff and was told that the sack was not shipped via a THAI flight on March 21 or 22. At the time, staff could not check the tracking status of the package because THAI cargo was closed, the ministry said.

On March 23, cargo staff had contacted the embassy and advised that the sack containing the ballots had departed Auckland on flight TG 492 to Bangkok at 3.03pm (local time) on March 23, and was due to arrive in Thailand at 8.50pm (Thai time).

That evening, the ministry had checked and was notified the bag would arrive at Suvarnabhumi airport at 8.50pm. However, that was beyond the delivery deadline for overseas advance votes.

The ministry consulted the EC and Thailand Post and was advised that the ballots from New Zealand could not be delivered to polling stations on time. Therefore, the ministry did not collect the bag containing the ballot papers from the cargo warehouse on the night of March 23, the ministry said. Ministry staff picked up the sack on March 24, and delivered it to the EC the following day.

Earlier, Sumeth Damrongchaitham, president of Thai Airways, said the airline had followed EC protocol rigorously. The sack of ballots from New Zealand arrived at Suvarnabhumi airport at 8.50pm on Saturday.

The airline had contacted the ministry at 5pm that day, well before before the flight landed, to advise of its scheduled arrival and that the bag could be collected from the air cargo warehouse between 10pm and 10.30pm. However, no one from the ministry arrived to get the bag that night.

Ministry staff picked up the sack from the cargo warehouse at 7.30pm on March 24, the THAI president said.

[StevePIraq]

Hopefully there will be discussions to form a coalition and eliminate this dictator.

His party got the highest number of popular votes.

Please explain how that makes him a "dictator".

Personally I hope the present government stays in power. They have brought growth and more importantly stability to this country. For years the red and yellow conflict brought chaos. I hope the stability continues.

[handdrummer]

I heard a discussion, at the Foreign Journalists Club, with 4 of the candidates. It reminded me of Peter Seller's, Party Political Speech. It was all, "If I'm elected I will, blah, blah, blah," The candidate for one of the parties kept referring to his uncle and saying I'm not him, then went on to talk about himself for the next 10mins. The rest were all pie-in-the-sky people. I agree with StevePIraq. Stability trumps (no pun intended) chaos.

[buksida]

EU, UK URGE THAILAND TO RESOLVE ‘ELECTION IRREGULARITIES’
The United Kingdom and the European Union on Tuesday called on Thai authorities to look into reports of irregularities related to the March 24 general election.

Their call came as the Election Commission was under fire for widespread errors and outright voting violations during Sunday’s polls. In statements posted online, the UK and EU said those allegations should be resolved swiftly.

“It is important that any reported irregularities are investigated swiftly, fairly and transparently, to ensure credibility and provide a clear result as soon as possible,” Mark Field, the UK’s Asia and the Pacific state minister, said in a statement.

http://www.khaosodenglish.com/politics/ ... ularities/

[HHTel]

Personally I hope the present government stays in power. They have brought growth and more importantly stability to this country. For years the red and yellow conflict brought chaos. I hope the stability continues.

And the government borrowing/debt is at an all time high. Above 35% of GDP and rising!

[buksida]

Add to that household debt which is at record levels, inflation outpacing wage increases, crime rates rising, exports falling ... but no worries the military have created stability because they have tanks and guns!

[StevePIraq]

Add to that household debt which is at record levels, inflation outpacing wage increases, crime rates rising, exports falling ... but no worries the military have created stability because they have tanks and guns!

Sounds a bit like the UK, except for the tanks and guns.

[StevePIraq]

Personally I hope the present government stays in power. They have brought growth and more importantly stability to this country. For years the red and yellow conflict brought chaos. I hope the stability continues.

And the government borrowing/debt is at an all time high. Above 35% of GDP and rising!

At the end of the financial year ending March 2018, UK general government gross debt was £1,763.8 billion, equivalent to 85.8% of gross domestic product (GDP).

The United States had a debt-to-GDP ratio of 104.17% in the year 2015 and 105.4% in 2017, according to the U.S. Bureau of Public Debt. The U.S. experienced its highest debt-to-GDP ratio in 1946 at 121.7% at the end of World War II, and its lowest in 1974 at 31.7%

Thailand has a long way to go to be as bad as the UK or USA

[caller]

The genie is out the bag. The people want democracy. They're not getting it. Something will have to give.

The so-called stability is because of junta bans on gatherings, meetings, strict censorship on discussion, dissent, people being removed, arrested, imprisoned and in some cases killed. The true state of the economy is panning and the majority are getting poorer.

It's okay looking on from the fringes and claiming stability is good, but that's because we're not the ones affected. There is something inherently wrong with a society when people are scared to discuss their concerns in the open. Let's see if that changes.

[HHTel]

Thailand has a long way to go to be as bad as the UK or USA

I agree. I was only pointing out that the debt is rising (not a good sign) so maybe they will catch us up!!

[europtimiste]

Hopefully there will be discussions to form a coalition and eliminate this dictator.

His party got the highest number of popular votes.

Please explain how that makes him a "dictator".

Personally I hope the present government stays in power. They have brought growth and more importantly stability to this country. For years the red and yellow conflict brought chaos. I hope the stability continues.

Yes, some fascists prefer stability North Korea style.

[HHTel]

Well, SteveP, it seems you have been branded a fascist by someone who is obviously much cleverer than us mere mortals!!

[STEVE G]

Well, SteveP, it seems you have been branded a fascist by someone who is obviously much cleverer than us mere mortals!!

Supporting an authoritarian military dictatorship doesn't exactly make you a Fascist but I suppose it puts you in a similar camp. I think they would have to have a more direct control of the economy to meet any definition of Fascism.

[handdrummer]

I may be mistaken but I thought that NK was a Communist state. It's hard to tell who the players are without a program. Get your hot dogs and beer here. Batter up!

[HHTel]

There are elections in NK every 4 or 5 years. Kim Jong Un was elected by the people. However, he stands unopposed!!!