Thailand Post ready to help EC hold general election

Dhanant Subhadrabandhu, Thailand Post's chief executive officer, said at a joint press conference with the Election Commission of Thailand (EC) on Monday that, in addition to safely transporting ballots, the organisation had established a centre for 24-hour monitoring and a strict 24-hour GPS supervision system.

Supporting the EC’s work is one of Thailand Post's most important tasks, he said.

The tasks include sending notifications of candidate lists, documents introducing the candidates, handling advance voting and postal voting ballots, and mail to heads of households registering to vote early both domestically and internationally.

He said the organisation had already scheduled over 500 trips to deliver ballots and equipment to 400 districts.

Meanwhile, he has ensured that vehicles transporting ballots and other equipment nationwide are ready.

Strict security
Furthermore, the transportation is guarded by a security system provided by the Royal Thai Police throughout the route.

The "Election Ballot Coordination Center for the 2023 general election to the House of Representatives" has been established at Thailand Post's head office, with space provided for ballot verification and storage, he said.

"The deliveries are highly secure, guarded by Royal Thai Police officers and remote monitoring systems 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A coordination hub has been established to process ballots for the election to the House of Representatives, providing convenience to the EC and other relevant agencies," Dhanant said, adding that security operations are reported to the pertinent agencies with CCTV, GPS and Control Room systems. This can track the transportation and investigate any irregularities 24 hours a day.

Thailand Post will begin sending letters of notification of the list of eligible candidates, which includes over 52 million names, and documents introducing the candidates to the public in over 18 million households this April, he said.

He said surface mail transportation for advance domestic voting will be provided in 77 provinces.

Overseas ballots
He also addressed the delivery of ballots outside Thailand, saying that the ballots would be sent by airmail to 66 countries and 94 destination cities on April 14-15.

After the advance voting is completed, the delivery of general election ballots for outside the constituency will begin on May 7. Completed early voting ballots from inside the constituency will be returned to the EC on May 13.

Over 500 Thailand Post officials will sort the advance voting and early voting ballots 24 hours a day, which will take approximately a week and a minimum of 500 delivery trips, he noted.

Household database
Dhanant added that in addition to the task of transporting and delivering ballots, Thailand Post was leveraging other expertise, such as its household database, to provide convenience to election candidates, political parties, and the EC.

"This would allow them to communicate policy or other information directly to a target group by using the unfranked Advertising Mail service for election leaflets. With the database of households, which is accurate in every neighbourhood across the country, it is possible to identify a target group. The rate is only 1.50 baht per item nationwide, with no minimum volume," he said.

EC secretary-general Sawang Boonmee praised Thailand Post for its readiness to help organise the 2023 general election.

EC fully prepared
He assured that the EC was fully prepared for the 2023 general election, with 52 million Thais on the electoral register expected to vote, which is more than in 2019, due to more eligible voters and effective voter mobilisation campaigns.

“The EC prioritises voter campaigns alongside security and transparency measures, with the goal of instilling confidence that the process is transparent and traceable," he said.

Along with the EC, Thailand Post, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Department of Consular Affairs, the Royal Thai Police, and the Ministry of Interior's Department of Provincial Administration would be in charge of this year's elections, he said.

The EC secretary-general expressed gratitude to the combined networks of every region for the general election to be held on May 14, free and fair, conducted by the people for the people.

Sawang also touched on the EC's “Get Out the Vote” campaign. As part of the campaign, the EC has got a song composed called "Democracy is in Our Hands”, sung by To-Saksit Vejasuphaporn.

This is to make Thai people aware of the power of their vote and that every vote counts in a democracy, he said.

Thailand's 2023 general election will be held on May 14. All political parties are now campaigning for votes from people all over the country, making a variety of promises to make voters' lives better.