Thailand’s Advance Voting Disrupted by Protesters

BANGKOK, January 26 (TNA) - A clash was reported early Sunday between anti-government protesters and eligible voters in Bangkok outskirt while several polling booths in the capital and southern provinces have called off advance voting ahead of the February 2 general election. The clash took place at a polling station located inside a Buddhist temple in Lat Krabang district where more than 35,000 eligible voters, most of them have house registrations in upcountry and have registered themselves for the advance voting. The voters were obstructed from entering the booth and cast their votes by anti-government protesters loyal to People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC). The clash followed after the protesters refused to leave at the request of polling station officials between eligible voters and the protesters. One PDRC member from the southern province of Surat Thani suffered injuries while the station decided to call off advance voting. Other polling booths which have also been closed due to fear of violence in the capital are Bang Bon district where some 15,000 voters have registered to exercise rights for advance voting. PDRC members have surrounded areas leading to the station. A similar situation in the army-dominated Dusit district. PDRC members have blocked two stations in the district, forcing officials to immediately called off the advance voting. Frustrated voters yelled at the protesters who were marching in front of a school which is used as a voting site. However, no clash was reported. Several polling stations in the South have also decided to abruptly close down the stations. In Surat Thani, polling officials at a booth located inside a police training centre closed down the station after PDRC members surrounded the centre since late Saturday while officials were also unable to transport ballots stored at a post office in Chumphon province. PDRC members also surrounded a sport stadium in nearby Nakhon Si Thammarat, preventing voters to exercise their rights. Eligible voters were also unable to enter the polling station in the resort province of Krabi after protesting women wearing sarong blocked entrances leading to a college which is used as polling site. Officials later announced that the station was closed and called off advance voting. (TNA)