Election Archive Home

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The Voting System

There are 480 members to be elected: 400 from constituencies and 80 from the “party list.”

  • Most constituencies are multi-member, the number of members to be elected dependent on the population. Voters simply place a cross against the candidates of their choice. The number of crosses must equal the number of constituency members.
  • For the party list, Thailand has been divided into 8 regions with each region electing 10 members.

Preliminary results will be available in the coming hours with solid national results expected by midnight (Canberra time). Results (in Thai) are available from the official Election Commission of Thailand website here.

National Results

12.56 am: The Bangkok Post website still leads with their “landslide” story but their breaking news has People Power on a more likely 227 seats. MCOT has them creeping up to 233.

12.10 am: It’s not clear where they are getting their numbers from but the ever-reliable Bangkok Post has People Power winning 254 seats – an absolute majority without any need for a coalition. Not quite a “landslide” as the headline suggests, but impressive if true.

11:09 pm: Little by little, and constituency by constituency, the People Power vote is edging towards a very strong position for Thaksin’s proxy party. According to the MCOT graph, the People Power share of the electoral pie is now 230. A simple, single-party majority requires 241.

10:51 pm: The regularly updated pie chart at MCOT gives a very clear indication of the current state of play. Right now, it has People Power on 227 and the Democrats on 158. This would potentially bring any number of the minor parties into play as People Power coalition partners.

10:06 pm: Thitinan Pongsudhirak has, to borrow Bangkok Pundit’s phrase, entrenched himself as a “quotemeister” in this election campaign. In a fresh New York Times article that discusses the latest results, he says, “We have a neo-feudal hierarchy that is untenable. It’s just incompatible with the 21st century. This contest between this older established order and the newly emerging order is being played out in the twilight of the king’s glorious reign”.

8.55 pm: As we indicate on our main page there are signs of increasing People Power Party confidence.

8.32 pm: Here are some quotes from party leaders in the Thai press:

‘We would like to thank all the voters who voted for the Democrat party,’ said Abhisit Vejajiva, the Democrat Party leader. When asked about the exit poll showing that his party will be the runners-up, Aphisit said that he would accept the result and insisted that the party who get the majority vote have the right to form the government.

Suwit Khunkitti, the leader of the Pua Paendin (Motherland), said that he would like to wait for the formal election result to be announced before making a decision about joining the coalition.

Nikorn Jumnong, the deputy leader of the Chart Thai party stated that his party should get more than 30 MP seats according to the previous polls. The recently revealed Suan Dusit exit poll shows that the Chart Thai party will get 29 seats.

Suthep Thuaksuban, the secretary of the Democrat party, pointed out that the exit poll is just a survey. He believes that the Democrat party will win more seats. ‘We should wait for the formal election result,’ said Suthep. ‘If the PPP party gets the majority vote, it means that the Thai people support them to form the government. If that is not the case, we will discuss the situation with other potential parties about the possibility for us to form the government.’

The veteran Banharn Sillapa-acha, the leader of the Chart Thai party, believes that the party will get at least 30 MP seats. He also adds that he feel a bit relieved since there is no report about the abuse of the election regulations by the members of his party.

Another Chart Thai well-known member, Maj Gen Sanan Khajornprasat said after knowing the result of the exit poll that it is technically over if the PPP party get as much as 256 MP seats out of 480 seats. ‘If they get 256 seats, they are able to form a one-party government. However, if they get only 202 seats according to the ABAC poll, we still have chance to talk with the PPP party about the possibility for the coalition government if Chalerm Yoobumroong contact us. Anyway, I need to discuss the situation with other executive members of the Chart Thai party.’

Samak Sunthornvej, the leader of the People Power party, thanks the voters. He refuses to give further interview saying that he will deliver a speech at around 8 pm when most of the vote counting is said to be announced.

8:28 pm: The Nation has English-language results that lag somewhat behind the official Thai-language counts. Nonetheless they provide a user-friendly overview of the national picture. People Power is in front by that reckoning.

8.05 pm: Democrat Party leader, Abhisit Vejjajiva, quoted in the Bangkok Post: “I choose not to comment on the exit poll results until the official results are out,” he said. “I would like to thank everyone who voted for the Democrats.” But perhaps not as many “everyone” as he hoped.

8:02 pm: Over at Thailand Jumped the Shark, Tosakan writes of the Suan Dusit exit poll: “The reason I am blogging this is because I think this reflects realty”.

7:13 pm: The full Suan Dusit exit poll, courtesy of Chinnawut Techanuvat, is available here. It shows The People Power Party taking 221 Constituency seats and 35 Proportional seats for a total of 256. The Democrats only manage, on this reckoning, 127 and 35 for a total of 162.

7:05 pm: There are still no official national results but the ever-reliable Bangkok Pundit reports that the Channel 9 exit poll has the People Power Party gaining 256 seats, the Democrat Party 162 and the Thai Nation Party 29. Needless to say it is still very early in the night…

Regional Results

11:03 pm: Earlier in the evening we highlighted the performance of People Power in Baan Tiam in northern Thailand. Looking at the constituency-wide vote in its area of Chiang Mai province it is now clear that the three People Power candidates will be elected comfortably.

10.20 pm:

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Here is a graph (click for larger version) with some relatively early party list counts by region (a total of about 2 million votes). The graph highlights some of the regional difference. In Zone 1 (northern Thailand) and Zone 2 (lower north and some of the northeast) PPP is ahead but the Democrat Party has attracted a solid vote. In Zones 3 and 4 (northeast Thailand) PPP dominates, as expected. In Zone 5 (eastern Thailand) and Zone 6 (Bangkok) the Democrat Party is ahead but the PPP vote is respectable. In Zone 7 (central and west Thailand) and Zone 8 (southern Thailand) the Democrat Party is well ahead. Overall these results are suggesting that PPP will win 36 party list seats and the Democrat Party 34.

9:28 pm: In Nongkhai, the People Power Party has flexed its electoral muscle. With substantial numbers of votes already counted in its two constituencies, Peua Paendin is its only real competition… The Democrats hardly rate at all in that part of the northeast. Is this because Nongkhai’s voters don’t drive cars?

9:08 pm: Actual results from Bangkok are now coming in on the official Election Commission of Thailand site. In many constituencies 20,000 votes have already been counted. The results currently read as follows:

  • Constituency 1 – Democrats in front by a large margin
  • Constituency 2 – Democrats well ahead
  • Constituency 3 – People Power slightly ahead
  • Constituency 4 – Democrats marginally in front
  • Constituency 5 – People Power ahead
  • Constituency 6 – People Power ever so slightly ahead
  • Constituency 7 – Neck and neck
  • Constituency 8 – Democrats ahead
  • Constituency 9 – Democrats in a dominant position
  • Constituency 10 – Democrats slightly ahead
  • Constituency 11 – Neck and neck, at this stage

8:24 pm: After 10 minutes of downtime, The Nation seems to be back online.

8:19 pm: The Nation‘s website appears to be down and is displaying the error message – “Can’t connect DB!!” Tell your friends, New Mandala (and all the blogs!) are still up and doing a good trade in comment and information.

8:17 pm: Chachoengsao constituency 2 (a contest which has been expertly followed in the series by New Mandala guest contributor Dr Michael H. Nelson) is seeing a strong showing from the local Chaiseng political clan. They appear on track for a People Power victory.

8:12 pm: Pick a constituency, any constituency: Surat Thani constituency 1. Down in Democrat heartland it is hardly surprising that there is a strong showing for Suthep Thuegsuban’s men. All three Democrat candidates look like they will romp it home.

7:52 pm: The official Thai government site has results from some constituencies. The numbers are still relatively small but we can report that, for example, in Nakorn Ratchasima’s Constituency 2 the three Democrat candidates are ahead of all rivals by a large margin. But only 450 votes have been counted!