General Election in Thailand - Part 3 Voting Day in Thamuang

There are many special days in Thamuang, and the general voting day is about as special as it gets, except, of course His Majesty's birthday and various religious occasions. 

Khamma arrived at the temple just before 9am.  There was already a long queue of approximately fifty people waiting patiently and chattering jovially amongst themselves.

The temple acts as community centre or, in direct comparison to Diggle on these occasions, Wrigley Mill Methodist church.  There are no political party number collectors wearing anoraks and colourful rosettes, but a notice board where the electoral register is posted alongside details of every candidate.

The first thing to do is to take off your shoes because this is a building and it is customary to leave your shoes at the entrance.  This is similar to my house in Diggle.  So far, the comparison score is 1-1.

The first task is to identify yourself to the register clerk.  At this point, you have to produce an identity card, confirm your address and sign against your name.  A small observation occurs to me that the ID card in a country like Thailand, which is infamous for its disorganised bureaucracy, makes such prolific use of an ID card.  Where did the UK fail to make this work?

The clerk issues a ticket, which is handed to a second clerk who issues the first voting form.  The problem is that the queue for this clerk stretches back, at the time Khamma joined it, more than fifty people long.

ID card produced, name checked, signature, ticket issued - NEXT!

The queue stretches back to receive voting papers

It struck me that in the UK there would be protest about the length of the queue resulting in mild unrest and uneasiness amongst the electorate.  The scene in Thamuang was so different; the Thai people take the situation as it comes, without protest.  No doubt there was a rush as the polling opening because there is so much to do during the day - the rice fields are being planted, which in itself is a major task this time of year.

The second clerk allocated a ballot paper for the election of the main MP for the area.  The main difference was that the voter had to sign a receipt for his paper and show the ticket provided by the first clerk.

The voter then joined the queue for the third clerk who provided the voting paper for the election of the second MP, which is based on some proportional representation for the area.  I could not obtain a satisfactory explanation of how this works.  The voter has to sign the counterfoil and the clerk ceremoniously folds the paper before the voter enters the booth to enter their 'cross'.

It appeared chaotic, but there was order and process

Finally, the voter can now vote and make a difference to way the country is led for the next five years, or something like that.

Finally, the vote is placed in the ballot box.

It was estimated that 75% of the village turned out to vote.  To me that is biggest difference between Thailand and the UK.  There appears to be a passion in Thailand to way the country is led.  It has been seen in the last five years - the airport closure, the city centre siege, the military coup - we might not approve of the way it is done, but these people care, they care a lot.  Many of them are poor, and cannot hope to escape the poverty, but they have a vote and they use it to try to speak out.  In my humble opinion, I do not think that is evident in the UK.

The red shirt party have won the election.  Thailand has its first lady PM, but she has a lot to do to prove her ability in government.  She will receive advice from her brother, but is it enough for Thailand to emerge from the shadow of recent violence.  We hope so.

Thank you to Thamuang for allowing me to use your pictures and trying to understand your politics.