From Thai PBS World

Thailand’s Senate race kicked off under a storm of controversy on Sunday (June 9), beset by lawsuits, allegations, and conspiracy theories.

Sunday’s nationwide district-level vote will be followed by five more rounds in what is described as the “most complicated election in the world”.

Over 46,000 candidates will vote in two rounds at the district, provincial, and national levels to select 200 new senators.

The new senators will replace members of the junta-appointed Senate, who are currently in caretaker roles after their five-year term expired on May 10.

On Wednesday, just days before voting started, the Constitutional Court accepted a petition filed by a group of senatorial candidates alleging that four clauses in the organic law governing the poll breach the Constitution.

The petition stems from a May 24 ruling by the Central Administrative Court that revoked three regulations on candidate introductions: the limit of two A4 pages, the method of electronic introduction, and the ban on artists or media professionals from using their talents to introduce themselves.

This is the first time in Thailand that all Senate members will come from a vote among candidates.

In 2019, the 250-member Senate was made of 194 members handpicked by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), and 50 representatives drawn from a vote among different occupations.

The remaining six appointees were chiefs from the armed forces and the police.

Of the 48,226 people who applied for this year’s Senate race, 46,206 qualified to join the first round on Sunday. A total of 2,020 applicants failed to meet the qualification criteria.

Sunday’s district-level vote will be followed a week later by the provincial-level vote on June 16. The national-level vote will be held on June 26, with the final results due to be announced on July 2.

Candidates will vote over the six rounds to select 10 senators from 20 eligible fields. These include law and justice, education, public health, agriculture, science and technology, mass communication, employees/workers, business owners, tourism professionals, industrialists, artists/athletes, independent professionals, women, and elderly, disabled or ethnic groups.

Continues at

https://www.thaipbsworld.com/lawsuits-conspiracies-dark-forces-thai-senate-selection-kicks-off-amid-chaos-and-controversy/

so much trouble to select 250 whose main role will be to clap

23 hours ago, vinapu said:

so much trouble to select 250 whose main role will be to clap

And accept modest brown envelopes!

30 minutes ago, Keithambrose said:

And accept modest brown envelopes!

And frequently immodest.