Hefty Thai "No" vote points to messy Dec election

BANGKOK, Aug 20 (Reuters) Thailand's voters have approved an army-drafted constitution, but a hefty ''No'' vote suggests December's general election will be messy, with ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra still a potent political force.

Announcing the official results of Thailand's first referendum, the Election Commission said today 57.8 per cent of voters had accepted the charter, designed to prevent a repeat of Thaksin's powerful single-party style of government.

However, 42.2 per cent rejected it, sending a signal to the generals who removed the telecoms billionaire in a coup last September that they will struggle to control the make-up of the next administration.

Just over 25 million, or 57.6 per cent, of the 45 million electorate cast their ballots.

Having pressed for a ''Yes'' vote, the army-appointed post-coup government had been hoping for at least a 60 per cent turnout for what will be the 18th charter in 75 years of on-off democracy.

After early exit polls indicated overall approval -- a result that was never really in question -- Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said elections would ''definitely be held at the end of the year.'' December 16 or December 23 are seen as the most likely dates.

Thaksin, 58, has been in exile in Britain since the coup and spent yesterday afternoon watching his newly acquired soccer club, Manchester City, beat Manchester United 1-0 in a match that generated as much interest back home as the referendum.

END TO TURMOIL Many Thais, especially those in Bangkok, appeared motivated to vote by a desire to see an end to the turmoil that has reigned since Thaksin's family sold control of the telecoms empire he founded to Singapore for a tax-free 1.9 billion dollar in January 2006.

The stock market rose 3 per cent, roughly in line with a rally across Asia, amid relief there had been no major upset, although analysts said the ''Yes'' camp's smaller-than-expected margin of victory suggested the election would be closely fought and dirty.

''This is telling the junta that they are going to have trouble at an election and that could mean all kinds of attempts to influence the result -- and that's worrying,'' Bangkok-based political analyst and Thaksin biographer Chris Baker said.

Even though Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) party has been disbanded and 111 top members barred from politics, its leaders hope the mass rural support that twice swept it to power will rally to a new party under a new flag.

Referendum voter breakdowns showed a 62 per cent ''No'' in the Thaksin heartlands of the northeast, suggesting the army's campaign to discredit him and his dissolved party had failed.

Analysts say the charter is designed to restore rule by the elites challenged by Thaksin, son of an ethnic Chinese silk merchant, and rekindle the ''managed democracy'' of the 1980s under ex-army chief Prem Tinsulanonda -- now the King's top adviser and seen by Thaksin supporters as the coup mastermind.

Human rights groups have criticised the referendum as a sham, given that nearly half of Thailand's 76 provinces remain under martial law and that a ''No'' vote would have allowed the army to impose any one of the previous 17 constitutions.

REUTERS SW BST1109