Thitikan Thitiprutikul submitted the request to the Phuket branch of the Election Commission of Thailand (ECT Phuket) yesterday (Feb 11), calling for a recount of ballots in Constituency 3 to clarify mismatched vote totals, including votes cast by overseas voters.
In a Facebook post, Mr Thitikan said the recount request was aimed at ensuring transparency and accuracy in the electoral process.
“Today, I submitted a request for a recount in Constituency 3 of Phuket Province to locate votes for voters, including votes from overseas, where the numbers do not match. This also includes ballot tally sheets that lack details of the polling station and location, along with evidence sent to me and the party by the public,” he wrote.
“A recount may not guarantee a victory for me, but it is for the transparency of the election, the accuracy of the data, and to ensure that no vote is lost.”
Mr Thitikan added that members of the public who have additional evidence related to the discrepancies are welcome to submit it to him or the party.
According to unofficial results published on the ECT website, Orathai Kerdsub of the Kla Tham Party won Constituency 3 with 29,323 votes, while Mr Thitikan finished second with 19,199 votes.
Mr Thitikan said confusion had arisen because vote tallies released by the Phuket branch of the Public Relations Department did not match the figures shown on the ECT website.
“Many people are confused about why the scores don’t match, because the Public Relations Office in Phuket said they received their figures from the Election Commission,” he said.
“However, when checking the Election Commission website, the information is different. I would like to ask the Phuket Election Commission: which data set is reliable?”
As of today (Feb 12), ECT Phuket has not directly published official constituency-level results on its own channels. All local tallies for Phuket have instead been released through the Phuket branches of the Public Relations Department, which operate directly under the Office of the Prime Minister, namely now PM-elect Anutin Charnvirakul
The Phuket News independently identified discrepancies between the figures published by PR Phuket and NBT Phuket and those shown on the national ECT website and sought clarification from ECT Phuket Director Ms Orapin Achiwasuk yesterday (Feb 11).
Ms Orapin said the tallies released by local Public Relations offices were the most accurate and up to date, but noted that they did not include votes cast by overseas voters. However, she did not provide an explanation for the differences between the locally published figures and the national ECT data for Phuket.
In a separate Facebook post, Mr Thitikan congratulated Ms Orathai on her victory and called on the incoming MP to continue pushing forward with key unresolved issues in Thalang, including Thalang Hospital, traffic congestion, water and waste management, land use on public beaches such as Mai Khao and Surin Beach, forest land disputes in Bang Khanun, land title issuance, and problems related to corruption, nominee structures and large-scale villa developments.
Meanwhile, Ploytalay Laksmisangchan, the Bhumjaithai Party candidate in Constituency 1, said she would not seek a recount after losing to the People’s Party’s Somchart Techathaworncharoen, who was re-elected.
“Once the people have decided, we must respect it,” Ms Ploytalay wrote on Facebook. “I exercised my legal rights by not requesting a recount. I lost this time. I lost like a sportsman, and I am ready to move forward.”
The Election Commission has not yet announced whether it will approve the recount request in Constituency 3.