High turnout of voters expected in Bangkok for Aug 7 referendum

BANGKOK, August 1 (TNA) - The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has projected that at least 80 per cent of voters in the capital should turn out to exercise their right in the August 7 referendum for Thailand's new Constitution draft, as targeted by the Election Commission of Thailand (EC). Deputy Permanent Secretary for BMA Chakkapan Piew-ngam made the projection on Monday, as BMA has launched PR campaigns in all channels to encourage eligible voters to come out to cast their ballots in the upcoming referendum on Sunday. Chakkapan stressed that preparations for Sunday’s referendum in all 50 districts in Bangkok are now 100 per cent ready, including those at venues and officials at the polling stations. "Seven officials will be posted at each of 6,745 polling stations in Bangkok to facilitate voters who are invited to exercise their right during 8am-4pm, while an unofficial result of the referendum in the capital should be known around 6pm", said the senior official. Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra, in the meantime, chaired a meeting with BMA senior officials, the 24th of its kind, to review the preparedness of the August 7 referendum in the city. Meanwhile, the central Ayutthaya Province, like all other areas across the country, launched a latest campaign to encourage local people to turn out to vote in the August 7 referendum, in which five elephants were used to encourage voters to cast their ballots. The provincial election office and the Elephant Palace and Royal Kraal in Ayutthaya worked together to make the upcoming referendum more lively, using the pachyderms and the mascot of Hunuman, a Hindu deity from the Ramayana epic, to parade along Rojana Road through the heart of the old capital city. In Ayutthaya, there are 637,683 eligible voters in 16 districts and 1,036 polling stations. Besides, about 4,586 voters, mostly work in local factories, have registered for casting their ballots outside their home provinces. Ayutthaya's Election Commission has prepared six polling stations for them in the compound of the City Hall. (TNA)