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King Prajadhipok’s Institute 99

The powers and duties of the Election Commission as stated in
the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand, B.E. 2540 (1997) and organic

laws can be divided into 4 dimensions as follows (Borwonsak Uwanno,
2542):

1. To promulgate regulations through their legislative power

2. To carry out the management of elections and referendums

3. To investigate and adjudicate disputes elections and

referendums through their quasi-judicial power

4. To carry out other activities in support of all the three

aforementioned dimensions of powers and duties of the Election
Commission

The first Election Commission of Thailand was selected and

appointed by the King with the advice of the Senate on 27 November
1997. Their first election administration was the Senate Election on

4 March 2000, which was Thailand’s first direct election of senators.
Although there were difficulties causing altogether 5 re-elections in
7 months and an expenditure of 2.3 billion Baht, the Election Commission

was highly trusted by the public, who later called the five Election
Commissioners “the five tigers of ECT.” The public was actively

participated in the election leading to the country’s highest voter turnout
at 71.89 percent (Pattama Subkhampang, 2543)

Their second and third election administrations were the General
Election in 6 January 1997, which was the first general election following
the promulgation of the 1997 Constitution, and the General Election in

6 February 2005 respectively.