2007 Thai constitutional referendum

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2007 Thai constitutional referendum
Flag of Thailand.svg
19 August 2007

Do you approve or disapprove of the draft constitution?
Results
Choice
Votes %
Approve14,727,30657.81%
Disapprove10,747,44142.19%
Valid votes25,474,74798.06%
Invalid or blank votes504,2071.94%
Total votes25,978,954100.00%
Registered voters/turnout45,092,95557.61%

Referendum Tailandia 2007.png
Results by province
On the map, the darker shades for a colour indicate a larger margin.

A referendum on the new constitution was held in Thailand on 19 August 2007. [1] Had the draft been rejected, the military government would have had the freedom to choose any previous constitution to adapt and promulgate instead. The turnout was around 60%. [2]

Proposed changes

Major changes in the proposed constitution included the following: [3]

The military government announced that each household in the country would be sent a copy of the new constitution ahead of the referendum. [3] A poll from July had seen a majority of voters in favour. [4] However, in many cases "yes" votes were not real indicators of support for the new text but rather for quick elections, as the ruling Council for National Security (CNS) has stated that approval of the new constitution was a requirement for holding parliamentary elections later that year. [5]

Results

ChoiceVotes%
For14,727,30657.81
Against10,747,44142.19
Invalid/blank votes504,207
Total25,978,954100
Registered voters/turnout45,092,95557.61
Source: Direct Democracy

By region

RegionForAgainstTurnout
(%)
Votes%Votes%
Central Thailand 5,714,97366.532,874,67433.4757.72
Southern Thailand 3,214,50688.30425,88311.7059.31
Northeast Thailand 3,050,18237.205,149,95762.8054.39
Northern Thailand 2,747,64554.472,296,92745.5362.06
Total14,727,30657.8110,747,44142.1957.61

By province

There were considerable differences in the approval rates between the regions of Thailand. In six provinces of Southern Thailand (Chumphon, Trang, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Songkhla, Surat Thani, Ranong), the approval topped 90%. On the other hand, in 24 provinces in Northern and Northeastern Thailand there was a majority against the draft. In two provinces in the far Northeast (Nakhon Phanom, Roi Et), the rejection even topped 75%.

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References

  1. Panel passes final draft of new Thai constitution, paving way for referendum, elections Associated Press, 6 July 2007
  2. Thai voters 'approve new charter' BBC News, 19 August 2007
  3. 1 2 Thai draft constitution approved BBC News, 6 July 2007
  4. Thais Would Approve New Constitution [ permanent dead link ] Angus Reid Global Monitor, 27 July 2007
  5. McCargo, Duncan (2008), "Thailand: State of Anxiety", Southeast Asian Affairs 2008, Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, p. 338