BANGKOK, Feb 22 – Thailand’s Election Commission (EC) on Thursday said about 70 per cent of young voters are expected to cast ballots in the upcoming Bangkok gubernatorial election.
EC Secretary-General Puchong Nutrawong said there are about 4.3 million eligible voters for the March 3 election and one million of them are young voters.
He said 79,005 persons are new voters this time.
Mr Puchong said he believes 70 per cent of youth who are eligible to vote will go to the polls next week.
The Suan Sunandha Poll, conducted by Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University among 1,238 young eligible voters earlier this week, from Monday through Wednesday, found 72.13 per cent saying they will vote for a new Bangkok governor next Sunday.
Thirteen per cent said they won’t vote, while nearly 15 per cent have not yet decided.
Regarding the problems which they said should be ranked according to importance. 25 per cent said the new governor should solve traffic congestion, followed 16 per cent who said that a clean city was most important.
Fourteen per cent want free air-conditioned public buses, while 11 per cent prefer free WiFi service across the capital.
Meanwhile, Huay Kwang District Chief Chumphon Chaokoh launched a campaign urging Bangkokians to vote by shooting a video clip of him and his civil service staff dancing the Harlem Shake at a market in front of the Bangkok’s MCOT Modernine TV, Thai News Agency and MCOT Online News headquarters.
The Harlem Shake, featuring a part where a number of costumed persons danced to the song “Harlem Shake” by Baauer, is an Internet meme that went viral on YouTube this month.
The meme is in the form of a video that began being replicated according to a similar concept by many people across the world.
Mr Chumphon said there are about 59,000 eligible voters in his district and the voter turnout in last gubernatorial election was 51 per cent.
He said he hoped the campaign will encourage more people to come out to the polls this time.
