<p>The Thai military have intimidated an environmental activist who is calling for the nullification of the result of the referendum on the junta-backed draft charter, saying the referendum was unfair. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>Srisuwan Janya, Secretary-General of a political group called the Association to Protect the Thai Constitution (APTC), posted a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/thaisgwa/posts/1043771222339005">message on his FB account&nbsp;</a>at 9:19 am on Tuesday, 9 August 2016, reporting that several soldiers in uniform again visited his house in Bangkok.</p>

<div>Relatively transparent polling practices on the day of the August 2016 referendum are unlikely to compensate for the distortion to results caused by a repressive pre-polling environment, said foreign polling observers.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7650/28538596730_ff08b4ee81_o.jpg" style="width: 640px; height: 441px;" /></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><span style="font-size: 12px;">In a <a href="http://anfrel.org/press-statement-smooth-polls-mark-thailand-referendum-albeit-with-lingering-concerns/">press release</a> on Tue </span></div>

<p>A well-known anti-junta activist from Isaan, Thailand’s northeast, arrested one day before the referendum, has vowed not to request bail and to go on hunger strike to point out the broken justice system in Thailand.</p> <p>The Provincial Court of the northeastern province of Chaiyaphum on Monday, 8 August 2016, granted permission to the police to detain Chaturapat Boonyapatraksa, 25, and Wasin Prommanee, 20, youth activists from the New Democracy Movement (NDM).</p>

<div> <div>The Chair of the Constitution Drafting Committee said the first general election under the junta-backed constitution, recently passed by referendum, might be held in early 2018 despite the junta’s strong promise that elections would at all costs be held in 2017. &nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><span style="font-size: 12px;">On Sunday, 7 August 2016, after the “Yes Vote” claimed a clear victory in the referendum, Meechai Ruchupan, Chair of Constitution Drafting Committee, told the media that the first general election under the new constitution was expected to be held in late 2017. </span></div></div>

<div> <div>Various cases of polling irregularities in the August referendum have been reported to the Prachatai referendum watch centre. A referendum watchdog coordinator said the irregularities were due to the election commission’s failure to facilitate the referendum. </div></div>

<p>The Thai junta premier welcomed the draft charter referendum result, saying the referendum was open and transparent and pointed out that Thailand’s foreign allies have intervened in its political transition.</p>

<p>Thai police have granted bail to an anti-junta activist detained for ripping up his ballot paper for the referendum on the controversial junta-sponsored draft constitution.</p> <p>After interrogation, police at Bangna Police Station in Bangkok at around 10:40 pm on Sunday, 7 August 2016, granted 20,000 baht bail to Piyarat Jongthep, head of the For Friends Association (FFA), an association providing assistance to political prisoners and dissidents.</p>

<div>Initial projections for Thailand’s August 2016 referendum predict that the military-backed draft constitution has been accepted by a safe majority.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On Sunday, 7 August 2016, at press time, VoiceTV’s real-time referendum results show that almost 90 per cent of August referendum ballots have been counted. In response to the referendum’s first question asking whether voters accepted the draft charter, some 62 percent of voters selected ‘yes’. </div>

<div> <div>Voters across the country have reportedly torn apart ballot papers for the August referendum in the mistaken belief that the dashed line on the ballot was for tearing. </div></div>

<p>The police have detained a youth anti-junta activist after he tore up his ballot paper and shouted "dictatorship shall be ruined and democracy shall triumph."</p> <p>A Facebook user named <a href="https://web.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1034326523348847&amp;set=a.111263448988497.15076.100003145279210&amp;type=3&amp;permPage=1&amp;_rdr">Thongtham Kaewpanpruek</a> reported that at 12 noon on Sunday, 7 August 2016, the police detained Piyarat Jongthep, the head of the For Friends Association (FFA), an association providing assistance to political prisoners and dissidents.</p>

<p dir="ltr">The Thai authorities detained two persons for tearing the voting tickets for the draft constitution referendum.</p> <p dir="ltr">The Election Commission of Thailand (ECT) reported on Sunday morning, 7 August 2016, that the police detained a 54-year-old woman in Bang Na District of Bangkok after she tore apart the voting ticket for the draft constitution referendum.</p> <p dir="ltr">At press time, she is being interrogated by the Thai police.</p>

<p>A Thai royalist has threatened to hit a woman in the head for chewing popcorn while the Thai royal anthem was playing in a cinema.</p> <p>Kapook.com on Saturday, 6 August 2016, posted a video which has been shared virally on ‘<a href="https://web.facebook.com/ceclip/videos/2041211929332800/?_rdr">YouLike (คลิปเด็ด)</a>’. The video clip ‘Almost getting hit in the head for chewing popcorn’ is from a Facebook account named ‘Senerys Targaryens’.</p>