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.   

Srisuwan Janya, Secretary-General of a political group called the Association to Protect the Thai Constitution (APTC), posted a message on his FB account at 9:19 am on Tuesday, 9 August 2016, reporting that several soldiers in uniform again visited his house in Bangkok.

“Soldiers visited me again…...for what maybe I don’t need to tell,” reads his message, which was posted along with several images of three soldiers in conversation with him.

On Monday, the APTC Secretary-General, who is known for filing complaints against state construction projects in order to protect the environment, announced that he will file a complaint to the Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) against the Election Commission of Thailand (ECT) at 11 am on Wednesday.

He said that the procedures leading up to the 7 August referendum on the draft constitution were unfair since people who criticised the draft constitution were prosecuted under the controversial Public Referendum Act while the authorities, such as Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, the junta leader and Prime Minister, were allowed to promote the draft freely.

Srisuwan added that the ECT also rushed through the process of counting the ballots in Sunday’s referendum to announce the result despite the fact that in certain polling stations the number of ballots counted was more than the number of eligible voters registered at the stations.   

The NACC should investigate the matter before sending the findings to the Criminal or the Constitutional Courts to rule if the referendum result should be nullified or not, said Srisuwan.

The ECT on Sunday night announced unofficial results of the referendum after 94 per cent of the ballots were counted. 61.40 percent votes were cast in favour of the draft constitution while 38.60 were against it.

In response to the second question on the referendum, asking whether voters approve the junta-appointed senate to jointly vote with the House of Representatives to select the Prime Minister, 58.11 per cent voted in favour of the proposal while 41.89 voted against it.

Only about 27 million people out of around 50 million eligible voters, however, turned out for the referendum on Sunday.

In a press release on Tuesday, 9 August 2016, the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) stated that restrictions imposed on criticising the draft constitution in the lead-up to the referendum were so severe that the genuine outcome is ‘a question for which we may never have a definitive answer’.

ANFREL observed that in the lead-up to the referendum, civil society organisations and ordinary citizens were discouraged from questioning the draft constitution, which was ultimately accepted by the referendum, out of fear of repression from the authorities.

In contrast, it was noted that extensive government resources were utilized to promote the junta-backed documents. Limited access to information about both the draft constitution’s contents and the polling process may have also contributed to the modest voter turnout.

Soldiers in uniform visit Srisuwan at his house in Bangkok on 9 August 2016 (Photo from Srisuwan's Facebook account)