Thailand's preparations for advance voting continued

BANGKOK, January 21 (TNA) - Election authorities have continued preparing advance voting in many constituencies, as Thailand's advance general election is set on January 26. Eight constituencies in Songkhla Province in the Thai South are also actively preparing for the January 26 advance poll and an election commissioner, Somchai Srisuthiyakorn (สมชัย ศรีสุทธิยากร), is scheduled to visit local election officials on January 22, as local election authorities have not yet recruited all staffs needed for local polling units. In nearby Trang Province, Saneh Rakrong (เสน่ห์ รักรงค์ ), the Trang election director, told reporters on Tuesday that ballots for advance voting and even for the new general election on February 2, 2014 have arrived in his province, but the recruitment of polling unit staffs has been only 60 per cent done; so, he fears that his province may lose its voters' turnout championship in the Thai South, which stood at 82.6 per cent in 2011. In Yala Province in the Thai far South, local election authorities announced that they are ready for the advance voting on January 26 and they have asked local police, soldiers and defence volunteers to secure polling units on the upcoming advance and the new general election dates. In Nong Khai (หนองคาย) Province in the Thai Northeast, election preparations have also been carried on although vote campaigns are quiet and only campaign signs are placed, but almost 30 signs of the ruling Pheu Thai Party in constituency 1 were destroyed. In the Thai North, the vote campaign atmosphere in Chiang Mai Province is also quiet, different from that in previous elections, as there are not so many campaign posters and most of them belong to novice candidates. More than 30,000 eligible voters have registered for their advance voting in Chiang Mai.(TNA)