Advance general elections for Thais abroad run smoothly

BANGKOK, January 17 (TNA) - Overseas advance voting for Thailand’s upcoming general election has been proceeded smoothly so far. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported on Friday that Thai eligible voters overseas first cast their ballots on January 13 – 14, 2014 at 25 Thai embassies and consulates in capitals and major cities of 24 countries, including Brussels, Copenhagen, Oslo, Lisbon, Paris, Moscow, Frankfurt, Prague, Chicago, Ottawa, Vancouver, Buenos Aires, Lima, Kunming, Chinese Taipei, Jeddah, Tel Aviv, Mumbai, Antananarivo, Abuja, Rome, Bern, Rabat and Brasilia. Methods of their advance elections include voting by post and in person at polling booths. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there have been no reports of any irregularity at each overseas polling location for Thais. More Thai embassies and consular offices in five other cities which opened for advance polling for Thai voters on January 15 included Dili in Timor Leste, Yekatenburg in Russia, Idan and Niot Hatika–Entama in Israel, Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and Amman in Jordan. Advance elections for Thai nationals living abroad were set from January 13-26, 2014 at 92 Thai embassies and consulates in 67 countries. In Thailand, election campaigns have been continued despite prolonged political demonstrations by anti-government protesters, with executives of schools in the northeastern and the central regions having also assigned their students to help campaign for the new general election, set on February 2, 2014, by urging eligible voters in their respective areas to exercise their electoral right, although election preparations in the South have been blocked. Caretaker Prime Minister and Defence Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said, meanwhile, at her caretaker government-sponsored national reform forum on Thursday afternoon that her caretaker administration is ready to support any legal solution to ongoing domestic political protests and she has remained in office to wait for the new Thai government to take over national administration, rejecting anti-government protesters' demand for her resignation in order to, as they have claimed, pave the way for a domestic political reform prior to the new general election.(TNA)