Southern Thailand local elections registration postponed
Major flooding caused Office of Election Commission to delay theregistration period for local elections in four southern provinces.
- The application period for Sub-District Administrative Organisation (SAO) elections has been postponed in four southern Thai provinces: Songkhla, Satun, Pattani, and Narathiwat.
- The postponement was enacted by the Election Commission of Thailand (ECT) due to severe flooding in the region, which made the application process impossible.
- The original application window of December 1-5, 2025, has been rescheduled to a new period of December 8-12, 2025.
The Election Commission (EC) has postponed the registration period for candidates running for subdistrict administrative organisation (SAO) council members and SAO presidents in four flood-hit provinces: Songkhla, Satun, Pattani and Narathiwat, as announced on November 30, 2025.
This decision was made due to severe flooding in several provinces, which makes it impossible to proceed with the registration process as planned.
The EC had initially approved the registration period to run from December 1 to 5, 2025 (including official holidays), at locations designated by the Election Director of each SAO.
The election date was originally set for Sunday, January 11, 2026.
The EC has instructed the Provincial EC Offices to coordinate with the Election Directors of the SAOs in the affected areas. If the registration process cannot be held from December 1 to 5, 2025, it is to be postponed.
The Election Director of the SAO in the flood-affected areas is required to announce the holding of the election for the President SAO and SAO Council Members, in accordance with Section 12 of the Act on the Election of Local Council Members or Local Executives 2019 and its amendments, on December 2, 2025.
The new registration period will be from December 8 to 12, 2025.
Currently, four provinces have postponed the application announcement for the entire province: Songkhla, Satun, Pattani, and Narathiwat.
The date for the draft announcement of the election for President SAO and SAO Members may be adjusted as deemed appropriate, and the Provincial ECT Offices are required to report this to the Office of the EC.
