Bangkok: The Election Commission of Thailand (ECT) explained that advance voting went smoothly, acknowledging some errors in a few areas, but affirmed that these will not affect the main election on February 8th. Mr. Saeng Boonmee, Secretary-General of the Election Commission (EC), announced the overall picture of the advance voting for members of the House of Representatives nationwide, stating that today is an important day for Thailand. Polling stations closed at 5:00 PM, and overall, the process went smoothly, despite some minor errors.
According to Thai News Agency, missing candidate introductory documents were discovered in two polling stations: Chonburi and Chiang Rai provinces. This was due to incomplete document delivery from Lampang province. In Chonburi, duplicate documents for candidate number 6 were found, while documents for candidate number 8 were missing. In Chiang Rai, the introductory documents for candidate number 8 were sent to another constituency.
Regarding the QR code issue in Bang Bon district, it was found that a QR code linking to a list of parliamentary candidates for the 2023 election was being used at a polling station in Bang Bon. This was intentional on the part of officials to facilitate voting for the public, but an error occurred during verification. Mr. Saeng apologized to the public and confirmed that it would not affect the vote counting process.
Regarding the electoral district codes, it was explained that the electoral district codes, which differ from postal codes, are unique codes assigned by the postal service. This is because one electoral district may have multiple sub-districts or different postal codes, in order to prevent duplication and ensure that ballot delivery accurately reflects the will of the people. Even if the polling station officials don't enter the code correctly, there's no need to worry, as the name of the district election chairman is clearly printed on the envelope. Furthermore, the ballots will be checked and sorted again before being handed over to the post office in the evening. We confirm that this will not affect the rights and votes of the people.
In the case of a voter forgetting their ballot in Nakhon Pathom province, officials separated the forgotten ballot from the envelope and attached a record of the incident at the polling station as evidence. In the case of ballots with the stubs torn off in Nonthaburi province, coordination has been made with the receiving district to separate the stubs before the ballots are counted.
Progress in preventing vote buying: The Election Commission office in Surat Thani province surrounded a suspected location where vote buying was planned, but the property owner refused to allow a search. They are currently seeking a court warrant. Initial investigations revealed information from several mobile phones indicating preparations for vote buying, a violation of the law. They confirmed that this type of activity has only been found in one location: Surat Thani province.
Mr. Saeng concluded that the only issue that might affect the substance of the people's will was the questionable polling district code, which is a possible error, but the system is designed with multiple verification steps. Other errors were merely convenience-related and would not affect the election results. At the same time, they denied reports that Bangkok Election Commission officials had threatened to take legal action against Ms. Chalanat Koykul, or "Palm," a candidate for Member of Parliament in Bangkok's District 28 from the People's Party. They considered the reports unverified and unlikely to have involved Election Commission officials, stating that their approach is to facilitate the process and that apologies should be offered to the public rather than resorting to intimidation.
Regarding the vote counting in military zones, it is believed that the public will be able to observe. On February 3, 2026, the media will be invited to observe the sorting of ballots, both from within and outside the Kingdom. It is expected that ballots from abroad will be fully returned by February 5, sorting will be completed by February 6, and delivery to the destination districts by February 7, for simultaneous vote counting on February 8, 2026.