Warunya Thongrod
Pattaya residents unable to vote in Sunday’s city
elections will have up to a week to protect their voting rights by
submitting a form at city hall.
Pattaya Registrar Ratchaya Pittimanakul said those
who know they will be unavailable to vote June 17 can file form HR 28,
“Petition for Non-Voting” at Pattaya City Hall through June 24. Accepted
reasons for not participating in the mandatory poll include sickness,
frail health, being older than 70 years old, lack of a registered
household in Pattaya and any specific reason specified by the Election
Commission of Thailand.
Because voting is mandated by law in Thailand, anyone
not doing so forfeits the right to petition against election results,
run for national office or for local sheriff or village headsman.