2026 Local Elections

Floods  

Devastating flooding hit southern Thailand in the final week of November 2025, resulting in one of the worst disasters the region has faced in years. Caused by monsoon rains exacerbated by tropical storms, the catastrophe was felt across several Southeast Asian countries (Rawnsley 2025). The latest figures indicate that 185 people were killed in Thailand alone over the course of the flooding (Bakkara & Karmini 2025). Songkhla province bore the brunt of the disaster, accounting for 70% of the total affected households in eight provinces (Nation Thailand 2025a). In response to the crisis, Thai authorities successfully launched extensive rescue operations, deployed military assets and allocated emergency funds. As a result, water and electricity have been restored in almost all affected areas (Bakkara & Karmini 2025). 

Although there is a lack of evidence that this rainfall and the subsequent flooding were directly caused by human-induced climate change, the magnitude of the events was affected by the occurrence of La Niña and a negative Indian Ocean Dipole, which are both related to increases in rainfall in the region (World Weather Attribution 2025). 

Impact on Electoral Processes  

The candidate registration period for the election of subdistrict administrative organisation  council members and presidents has been postponed in four flood-affected provinces in southern Thailand: Songkhla, Satun, Pattani and Narathiwat. The initial period was supposed to run from 1 to 5 December but has been rescheduled to 8-12 December 2025. The original election date of 11 January 2026 has not yet been postponed, but it remains subject to change (Nation Thailand 2025b). On 11 December, the Secretary-General of the Election Commission traveled to Yale to inspect the registration for local elections emphasizing the need for elections to maintain integrity despite the difficult flood conditions   (Thairath Online 2025) .