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Thailand votes amid opposition boycott

Electoral workers carry ballot boxes to a three wheeled ``tuk tuk'' to transport to a central counting center after the polls closed in Bangkok yesterday. PHOTO: EPA

Thailand went to the polls yesterday in a snap election called by the country's embattled prime minister, who urged voters to ignore an opposition boycott and end the country's deepening political stalemate.

But the vote was unlikely to satisfy critics who accuse Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra of corruption and abuse of power.

"People will not accept this election, and the political situation will get worse," said Banharn Silpa-archa, head of the opposition Chat Thai party, which boycotted the election along with the two other opposition parties in parliament.

The national police chief warned yesterday that the protests should stop after the vote.

"We should return to the rule of law after the election. Everybody should return to normal and not violate any laws or cause suffering to others," General Kowit Watana told reporters. "Police have been lenient for a very long time."

The balloting was largely peaceful, but bombs exploded after voting ended at three polling stations in the restive south, injuring four soldiers and a police officer, police said.

Thaksin called the election three years early to reassert his mandate after weeks of growing street protests against his leadership.

"I would like to congratulate all Thais that we have successfully maintained democracy," Thaksin said after yesterday's vote. "I would like to call on all sectors in society to respect the rules and respect the people's decision."

The results of unofficial exit polls were expected later yesterday, while official results were not expected until tomorrow, the Election Commission said.

Looking relaxed and smiling, Thaksin cast his ballot at a voting station near his residence in western Bangkok, accompanied by his three children.

The anti-Thaksin movement adopted the slogan "Vote for No Vote," and urged people to wear black on election day as a symbol of protest. A few people did don black but others staged more personal protests. Prominent political science professor Chaiyan Chaiporn of Chulalongkorn University made a show of ripping up his ballot card at a central Bangkok polling station, as other voters erupted in applause. He was promptly arrested but released on bail. The act is punishable by one year in prison, a 20,000 baht (US$500) fine and a five-year revocation of voting rights.
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