46.79 percent turnout in Thailand election

Bangkok, Feb 5 (IANS) The Election Commission of

Wednesday announced that voter turnout nationwide in the Feb 2 general elections was 46.79 percent, excluding the nine provinces where voting was cancelled.

The election commission said as many as 20.1 million out of 43.024 million eligible voters exercised their voting right in 68 provinces where voting was not disrupted by protestors, with 71.38 percent of those ballots valid, 12.05 percent invalid and 16.57 percent "no-vote".

The nine provinces where voting was cancelled due to shortage of ballot papers are Krabi, Chumphon, Trang, Phangnga, Phatthalung, Phuket, Ranong, Songkhla and Surat Thani.

Chiang Mai province recorded the highest turnout at 75.05 percent

Chiang Mai province recorded the highest turnout at 75.05 percent, while the turnout in Bangkok was only 16.78 percent, the Bangkok Post reported.

The election commission will hold a meeting Thursday to find solutions to the disruption of Jan 26 advance voting for migrant workers and students and Feb 2 polls in nine provinces.

It will also discuss the issue of 28 constituencies, where no candidates were able to register before the polls due to obstruction by protestors.

The election commission will take opinions from legal experts and advisors before taking a decision.