The Election Commission (, ) is an independent government agency and the sole election management body of

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. It oversees government elections (parliamentary elections and local elections) as well as

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

s throughout the

Kingdom of Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. Established by the 1997 constitution, the Election Commission (EC) has extensive powers to manage, oversee, and regulate the electoral process. The EC has reacted to irregularities in the 2000 Senate elections, the 2006 House elections, and the 2007 House elections, forcing re-elections and disqualifying many candidates. Election Commission is heavily criticized for untrustworthy and unprofessional practice during 2023 election, some critics are expected that the commission itself is under the influence of the military and orchestrated

election fraud Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud, or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share o ...

itself.

Roles and responsibilities

The primary role of the commission is to ensure that

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

carried out in the

are lawful and compatible with the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

. It is also in charge of enforcing national election laws covering:

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

Referendums A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either binding (resulting in the adoption of a new policy) or advis ...

, Bangkok gubernatorial elections and

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

. Its constitutional duty includes the publication of all election returns, therefore formalizing them. The commissioners also have the right to disqualify a candidate, or call for a re-count for a particular seat. The EC's responsibilities include the organization, management, and counting of all elections and voting in the kingdom. It advises the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

on future policies concerning elections and suffrage. The commission has legal powers as a

law enforcement agency A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for law enforcement within a specific jurisdiction through the employment and deployment of law enforcement officers and their resources. The most common type of law enforcement ...

to investigate and indict those who compromise election laws through bribery, corruption, vote buying, or blackmail. The commission has the power to investigate the finances and donor lists of all political parties. It informs the public of elections and their importance.

Budget

In FY2019, the EC is allocated 8,247 million

baht The baht (; , ; currency sign, sign: ฿; ISO 4217, code: THB) is the official currency of Thailand. It is divided into 100 ''satang'' (, ). Prior to decimalisation, the baht was divided into eight ''fueang'' (, ), each of eight ''at'' (, ). The ...

, more than tripling from the FY2018 budget of 2,265 million baht due to national elections in 2019.

Structure

The Election Commission of Thailand is composed of a committee of five members, one

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

() and four election commissioners (). The administrative side of the commission is run by the secretary-general (). As well as being regular members of the commission, the five members are also given various responsibilities. All commissioners are appointed by the

king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

, with the advice of the Senate of Thailand; for a term of seven years. The current commission is the fourth team of election commissioners, appointed 12 August 2018. , Chairman of the Election Commission , Ittiporn Boonprakong , General Administration , 12 August 2018 , - , Election Commissioner , Santhat Siriananpaiboon , Election Administration , 12 August 2018 , - , Election Commissioner , Thawatchai Pakorn , Investigation and Adjudication , 12 August 2018 , - , Election Commissioner ,

Chatchai Chanpraisri Chatchai is the romanization of two Thai-language masculine given names: (, roughly 'umbrella of victory') and (, meaning 'male life' or 'manly'). The latter is also spelled Chartchai, among others. Notable people with the given name include: * ...

, Political Party Affairs and Referendum , 12 August 2018 , - , Election Commissioner ,

Pakorn Mahannop Pakorn () is a Thai masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: * Pakorn Chatborirak Pakorn Chatborirak (; ; born 20 August 1984), nicknamed Boy (; ), is a Thai model and actor. Early life and education Pakorn Chatborirak was ...

, Public Participation , 12 August 2018 , - , Secretary-General , Jarungvith Phumma , Election Commission's Secretariat , 12 August 2018

History

Prior to 1992, the responsibility of overseeing elections fell on the

Ministry of Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, th ...

or Mahatthai Ministry. Under the premiership of

Anand Panyarachun Anand Panyarachun (, , ; born 9 August 1932) is a Thai retired politician who served as the Prime Minister of Thailand for two terms, first from 1991 to 1992 and again for a brief period during the latter half of 1992. He was effective in init ...

after the Thai general election of 1992, the prime minister realised the need to create a central and independent body, whose sole purpose was to regulate and manage elections. As a result, on 22 March 1992 the "Committee to Administer and Investigate Elections to the House of Representatives" () was created, a precursor of the commission. The commission in its current form was created by the

1997 constitution of Thailand The Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand, Buddhist Era 2540 (1997) (, ) was a constitution of Thailand enacted on 11 October 1997 to replace the 1991 Constitution, and was widely hailed as a landmark in Thai democratic constitutional reform, i ...

2006 House election

The Thai general election of 2006, was held on 9 April for the House of Representatives and 19 April for the Senate. The main opposition parties, composed of the Democrat Party, the Chart Thai Party, and the Mahachon Party, boycotted the election on the grounds that

Thaksin Shinawatra Thaksin Shinawatra (, ; born 26 July 1949) is a Thai businessman and politician who was the 23rd prime minister of Thailand from 2001 to 2006. Since 2009 he has also been a citizen of Montenegro. Thaksin founded the mobile phone operator A ...

's government had unfairly called an election to divert public attention form the Shin Corp scandal. Despite this, the election went ahead. On 3 April 2006, the

People's Alliance for Democracy The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD; ; commonly known as "Yellow Shirts") was a Thai reactionary, monarchist political movement and pressure group. It was originally a coalition of protesters against Thaksin Shinawatra, the former Prime M ...

(PAD) petitioned the Administrative Court to suspend the results of the election and accused the Election Commission of violating voter privacy. It accused the commission of placing voting booths so that voters' backs were to the public, when in all previous elections, voters faced the public, with a barrier one-half meter tall at the front of the booth separating the voter from the public. The commission claimed the new arrangement was designed to prevent various forms of polling fraud including the use of cameras by voters to take photographs of their ballots. After the 2005 election, cameras and

camera phone A camera phone is a mobile phone that is able to capture photographs and often record video using one or more built-in digital cameras. It can also send the resulting image wirelessly and conveniently. The first commercial phone with a color c ...

s were banned from voting stations due to fears that canvassers would demand ballot photographs in return for money. However, the PAD claimed that this allowed onlookers to peek over voters' shoulders and see who they voted for. The elections were eventually declared invalid by Thailand's

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ru ...

, which found the positioning of voting booths violated voter privacy. The Constitutional Court forced the Election Commission to resign over its management of the April elections. The court failed to persuade the EC president to resign. It did, however, prevent the Senate from appointing a replacement for commissioner Jaral Buranapansri, who had died. This prevented the commission from achieving a quorum. It later found the remaining commissioners guilty of malfeasance and jailed them for one night. An entirely new commission was appointed.

2007 House election

A number of MPs (mainly those elected for the PPP) were given "

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or di ...

s" for alleged vote buying, meaning they would not be able to contest the resulting by-elections. Other MPs were issued " yellow cards" and not banned from contesting the by-elections. By 3 January 2008, the Election Commission had endorsed 397 MPs and was still investigating 83 MPs for fraud. By-elections were held on 13 January, 17 January, 20 January (the day before the first session of the newly elected parliament) and 27 January 2008. The Electoral Commission was still looking into allegations of fraud by PPP deputy leader Yongyuth Tiyaphairat. If given a red card, the PPP faced dissolution. PPP officials stated that they are not worried about dissolution, and that they would simply find a new party instead; local reports stated that a likely candidate for takeover by PPP members would be the Thai Land Power Party (''Palang Pandin Thai Party''). Disqualified were: *PPP ** red cards for Prakit Poldej, Pornchai Srisuthiyothin, Rungroj Thongsri – Buri Ram Province constituency 1 ** yellow cards for Boonlert Krudkhunthod, Linda Cherdchai, Prasert Chanruangthong – Nakhon Ratchasima Province Constituency 3 ** yellow card for Thanatorn Losunthorn – Lampang Province Constituency 1 ** yellow cards for Surathin Phimarnmekhin, Anan Sriphan, Cherdchai Wichianwan – Udon Thani Province ** yellow cards for Prasop Busarakham and one other MP, with Busarakham's card changed to red later – Udon Thani Province Constituency 3 * Thai Nation Party ** red cards for two MPs – Chai Nat Province * Democrat Party ** yellow card for Suthat Jansaengsi –

Phetchabun Province Phetchabun (, ) is one of Thailand's seventy-six provinces (''changwat'') and lies in lower northern Thailand. Neighbouring provinces are (from north clockwise) Loei, Khon Kaen, Chaiyaphum, Lopburi, Nakhon Sawan, Phichit and Phitsanulok. ...

86 * For the Motherland Party ** yellow cards for two MPs

2008 Senate election

No major event occurred.

2011 General election

On 19 July, both Yingluck Shinawatra and

Abhisit Vejjajiva Abhisit Vejjajiva (; , , ; born 3 August 1964) is a Thai politician who was the 27th prime minister of Thailand from 2008 to 2011. He was the leader of the Democrat Party from 2005 until he resigned following the party's weak performance in t ...

were acknowledged as members of the

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

. On 27 July, the acknowledgement extended to further ninety four elected candidates. Now and eventually, the number acknowledged sufficed to constitute the House. This, however, did not include Jatuporn Prompan whom the Election Commission declared to have lost the

suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

due to failure to vote in both the previous and the present elections. The

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

requires that a member of the House must possess the suffrage, and also prescribes that a person failing to vote in an election loses the suffrage but regains it once voting in the next election.

References

External links

* {{Government of Thailand Constitutional organizations of Thailand

Elections in Thailand Organizations established in 1992 1992 establishments in Thailand