Thailand went to the polls yesterday in a snap election called by the country's embattled prime minister, who urged voters to ignore an opposition boycott and end the country's deepening political stalemate.
But the vote was unlikely to satisfy critics who accuse Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra of corruption and abuse of power.
"People will not accept this election, and the political situation will get worse," said Banharn Silpa-archa, head of the opposition Chat Thai party, which boycotted the election along with the two other opposition parties in parliament.
PHOTO: EPA
The national police chief warned yesterday that the protests should stop after the vote.
"We should return to the rule of law after the election. Everybody should return to normal and not violate any laws or cause suffering to others," General Kowit Watana told reporters. "Police have been lenient for a very long time."
The balloting was largely peaceful, but bombs exploded after voting ended at three polling stations in the restive south, injuring four soldiers and a police officer, police said.
Thaksin called the election three years early to reassert his mandate after weeks of growing street protests against his leadership.
"I would like to congratulate all Thais that we have successfully maintained democracy," Thaksin said after yesterday's vote. "I would like to call on all sectors in society to respect the rules and respect the people's decision."
The results of unofficial exit polls were expected later yesterday, while official results were not expected until tomorrow, the Election Commission said.
Looking relaxed and smiling, Thaksin cast his ballot at a voting station near his residence in western Bangkok, accompanied by his three children.
The anti-Thaksin movement adopted the slogan "Vote for No Vote," and urged people to wear black on election day as a symbol of protest. A few people did don black but others staged more personal protests. Prominent political science professor Chaiyan Chaiporn of Chulalongkorn University made a show of ripping up his ballot card at a central Bangkok polling station, as other voters erupted in applause. He was promptly arrested but released on bail. The act is punishable by one year in prison, a 20,000 baht (US$500) fine and a five-year revocation of voting rights.
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS