Hundreds of students and residents gathered outside a Pathum Thani polling venue on Saturday night, accusing officials of misconduct in the vote count and demanding a recount after being barred from observing the process and discovering that CCTV cameras had been covered.
More than 300 people assembled at around 9pm on February 8 at the auditorium of Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi’s Khlong Hok campus in Thanyaburi district, which was designated as the district’s vote-counting centre.
The gathering followed reports that members of the public were denied access to observe the tallying process.
Demonstrators challenged election staff inside the venue and recorded video footage, saying the process lacked transparency. Police officers from Thanyaburi and Khlong Ha police stations were dispatched to monitor the situation and prevent disorder.
Protesters said a small group of student observers was turned away after attempting to enter the counting area. According to the group, a female official in a khaki uniform told them their presence would interfere with operations and instructed them to leave.
When the observers later sought clarification, they were informed that the ballots had already been counted and sealed, preventing any further verification. The group also claimed that closed-circuit television cameras inside the venue had been switched off and concealed.
A student representative, who asked not to be identified by surname, said the group accepted that CCTV cameras may be disabled during voting hours, between 8am and 5pm, to protect voter privacy.
However, she said the cameras should have been operating once voting concluded and the counting began, to demonstrate openness in the process.
She also raised concerns that advance and overseas ballots were counted solely by civil servants, without independent observers present.
The absence of public witnesses during what she described as a crucial phase of the election undermined confidence in the outcome and led to the protest, she said.
Mr Pian Mansri, head of the investigation and political party affairs unit at the Pathum Thani office of the Election Commission (EC), confirmed that complaints had been lodged over restrictions on observing the count.
He said the provincial EC office had not yet established all the facts, noting that the official accused of preventing observers from entering the area was unavailable and could not be reached for comment.
He added that the venue also served as a polling station earlier in the day before being used for vote counting.
Mr Pian said the provincial office does not have the power to order a recount. Any request would need to be submitted to the EC’s seven commissioners, who alone have the authority to determine whether a recount is warranted.
He said protesters had been advised to file a formal written complaint, after which officials would collect statements and evidence from all parties and forward the matter to the EC’s central body for a final decision.
