General Elections, 14 May 2023

Heavy rain brought by tropical cyclone Mocha pounded the North, Northeast, and upper Central regions of Thailand during the general elections that were held on 14 May 2023. People had been warned in advance about the risk of flash floods (Nation Thailand 2023). 

Impact on electoral processes 

Heavy rain and strong winds mostly affected a polling station in Nakhon Pathom province in Bangkok Metropolitan Region. There, the tent housing the polling station collapsed, forcing officials to cancel the voting. The election in this area was postponed by one week, to 21 May (Daily News 2023).  

Due to rain and wind gusts vote counting was suspended in the province of Phitsanulok. For example, since the election center for Constituency 1 in Muang district was set up in tents outside, the officers had to move the equipment, including the ballot boxes, to the nearby temple hall. While some of the equipment and documents were damaged, there were no reports of lost or damaged ballots, as the storm began after voting had ended but before vote counting started, when the ballot box was already sealed. In other polling stations, strong wind and rain also forced the relocation of vote counting (Nation Thailand 2023; Phitsanulok Hot News 2023; Nation TV 2023).

Author: Benas Putrimas