Chiang Mai: Chiang Mai holds municipal elections, morning atmosphere is lively, while the Election Commission reveals that there are almost 30 complaints. The atmosphere for the election of Chiang Mai City Council members and mayor was lively since morning. As soon as the ballot boxes were opened, people gradually came to exercise their rights amidst the still bright weather without rain. At Sala Angkaew, Chiang Mai University, there are 4 polling stations gathered at this point. Most of the eligible voters are young students who are excited to exercise their rights.

According to Thai News Agency, this point has 4 polling stations of Constituency 2 with 1,605 eligible voters, of which 1,017 are students. The students who came to exercise their rights said that they wanted to see Chiang Mai developed and changed for the better because it is an important province for tourism that helps drive the economy amidst a large budget.

While at many other polling stations in Chiang Mai Municipality, which has 157 units in 4 constituencies, voting went smoothly with no complaints. People continuously came out to exercise their rights. At the polling station at Wat Chaimongkol, Chang Klan Subdistrict, Mr. Nirat Phongsitthaworn, the Governor of Chiang Mai Province, came to exercise his rights from the moment the ballot boxes were opened. He invited Chiang Mai residents to come and exercise their rights as well.

Mr. Noppadol Suya, Director of Election of Chiang Mai Province, who traveled to inspect the orderliness of the polling station, revealed that so far, he has received more than 30 complaints. Most of them were about giving and promising to give assets, including the use of influence to threaten and intimidate. As for the cheatbook that is suspected of corruption, it was found that there was a list of names of those who received money that a candidate for mayor of Chiang Mai Municipality submitted to the Election Commission. Currently, the committee is investigating and has invited witnesses and related persons to provide information.

However, the Chiang Mai Election Commission is concerned about the ballots because there are 2 types of ballots: the yellow-gold ballot is for the mayor, who can choose no more than 1 candidate, and the green ballot is for the municipal council, who can choose no more than 6 candidates, including the possible summer storms, which have been emphasized to the unit committee to prepare for the situation.

For the election of Chiang Mai City Council members and mayor, more than 90,000 people are eligible to vote for mayor. It is expected that more than 70 percent of voters will exercise their right to vote. In addition, today there will be elections for local council members and mayors of various sub-district municipalities in Chiang Mai in another 121 places, with a total of almost 1,800 polling stations and almost 800,000 eligible voters.

There is still time. Those who have not yet gone out to exercise their right to vote are invited to come out and do their part to develop their local areas. After the polls close at 5 p.m., it is expected that the unofficial results of the elections for each municipality, including the Chiang Mai mayor, will be known around 8 p.m.