Int'l observers welcome to Thailand's Charter referendum

BANGKOK, August 2 (TNA) - An election commissioner says that representatives of foreign countries and international bodies are all welcome to observe the upcoming referendum of Thailand's new Constitution draft, set to be held nationwide on August 7. The election commissioner, Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, told journalists of the stance on Tuesday, noting that three nations, including Timor-Leste, Bhutan and Nepal, have contacted the Election Commission of Thailand (EC) to send their representatives, three from each nation, to observe Sunday's Charter referendum. Besides, international and regional independent bodies, including the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) and the Asia Foundation (AF), have informed EC of sending their teams to observe the August 7 referendum, 10 members from ANFREL and 12 members from AF. According to the election commissioner, all the 31 international observers will stay in Thailand for the mission during August 5-8, when they will take part in four activities, including a briefing session on the referendum, observation on the delivery of polling materials and equipment, observation on Sunday's referendum and an evaluation meeting after the referendum. The election commissioner stated that the international observers with their nametags, certified by EC, will be allowed to freely observe Sunday's public referendum at any or all polling units across the country. The election commissioner explained, unlike the external observers, those representing Thai independent bodies and even the general public will be allowed to only observe outside polling units nationwide as Thai observers are legally allowed to enter polling units only in elections. The election commissioner, however, urged the general public to participate in the observation mission to ensure a free and fair referendum by reporting video clips or messages of suspicious behaviours or acts to EC via its pineapple-eyes application and witnessing the bollot counting in their respective areas and reporting the result on their social media accounts with the common Hashtag, referendum#. (TNA)