Anfrel observers to observe the December election

Somsri Hananuntasuk, Andrel's executive director said the 37 observers will start travelling to all regions of the country to start their assignments.

She said the December 23 election is crucial to the restoration of Thai democracy.

"Having international observers present will make the election more credible both in the eyes of the international community but also, more importantly, the Thai public," she said.

  The observers, who are from civil society organisations based all over Asia, will be in Thailand for a total of 20 days. They will be deployed to strategic provinces in 8 zones across the country, particularly those where the risk of election fraud is anticipated to be higher.

Observers will work closely with Poll Watch and PNET on the ground.

"It's clear that there is a need for a strong observation presence, both from international organisations like Anfrel and also domestic monitoring organisations. As well as the endemic problem of vote-buying, we remain concerned about the role of the military in politics. Martial law and the Internal Security Act, if passed, must not be used to curb legitimate political activities."

 "There also seems to be low public awareness of changes to the electoral system and new laws that the ECT have introduced. Political parties, NGOs, the government and the ECT are urged to ensure that the voters can make a well-informed decision come 23rd December, free from intimidation," concluded Ms. Hananuntasuk.

Anfrel becomes the only foreign organisation to observe the election organised after the military junta ousted government of Thaksin Shinawatra last year. The European Union had failed to send its observers to observe the poll after the Thai government refused to sign memorandum of understanding with EU on the matter.

 The organisation has undertaken over 30 election observation missions across Asia in more than a 15 countries over the past 10 years.

Anfrelobservers are sourced from a network of partner civil society organisations in Asia, with the long-term aim of developing the capacity of Asians themselves to work on Asian issues

Observers will be coming from countries such as the Philippines, East Timor, India, Malaysia, East Timor, Nepal, and Bangladesh.