PATTAYA, Thailand – A growing crowd of local residents gathered at the Chonburi Municipality Stadium on Tuesday, demanding a recount of the Constituency 1 vote and threatening to escalate their demonstrations if the Election Commission (EC) remains silent.
The standoff, which has lasted since election night, intensified after citizens discovered ballot boxes being transported under suspicious conditions, including unsealed containers and tally sheets allegedly discarded in trash cans or pre-signed by officials before the count.
Despite the EC’s initial refusal to grant a recount on legal grounds, local demonstrators insist they will occupy the site until the national commission provides a transparent resolution.
Warot Sirirak, the People’s Party candidate for Chonburi’s Constituency 1, was present to observe the situation. He maintained that the gathering was a spontaneous movement rather than an organized mobilization, stating that residents began to assemble after a local news page shared reports of a potential recount. Upon arriving, the crowd discovered evidence of irregularities, Warot said.
“We are ready to accept defeat, but it must be a transparent one,” he added.
“Why recount if we’re just going to lose anyway. We recount for transparency—to prove that nothing is wrong. If everything was done correctly and there was no fraud, why fear a request from the people to recount their own votes? It’s that simple. We don’t care about winning or losing; we only care about transparency,” said Kanokwan, a Chonburi resident. (TNA)
