In its first election since the coronavirus outbreak, voters in the Lampang province of Thailand covering the districts of Ko Kha, Soem Ngam, Sop Prap, Thoen and Mae Phrik, came forward on Saturday to participate in a by-election that saw the ruling party add one more seat to its name amid new regulations and health measures aimed at reducing the spread of the virus during voting.
Organised for constituency 4 to replace Ittirat Chantharasurin, a former member of parliament (MP) for the province who passed away on May 7, the ruling pro-military Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) scooped up the seat from the opposition, Pheu Thai, whose ticket the former MP had run on. While Pheu Thai had initially planned to field a candidate to keep the seat in the party, Pinit Chantharasurin, the father of the diseases MP pulled out the last minute, indicating interest in running for president of the provincial administration organization instead.
Wattana Sithiwang, who had run but lost to Chantharasurin in the 2019 parliamentary elections, beat Police Lieutenant Somboon Klapachon from the opposition’s Seri Ruam Thai Party in Lampang province, with more than 61,914 votes against 38,336, according to unofficial results released by the Election Commission.
Four of the five candidates were from coalition parties: Wattana Sitwang from Palang Pracharath (No.1), Ampin Kamsriwan from Palang Thongthin Thai (No.3), Ong-art Sin-ananset from Thai Rak Tham (No.4) and Patitta Chaimoonchuen from New Economics (No.5).
New Health Measures Introduced
As part of the new election structures instituted to ensure the safety of the electorate in Thailand, only 600 voters were allowed to use one polling station to avoid congestion. This led to the addition of 65 new polling stations. Similarly, voters were required to wear masks, have their temperature checked, clean their hands with a hand sanitizer provided by the polling unit, and maintain a social distance of 1.5 meters.
An estimated 77% turnout was recorded by the Electoral Commission in Thailand.
