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King Prajadhipok’s Institute 87

A lack of knowledge and understanding of politics and governance.
In particular, people do not have genuine understanding on elections in

general, the objectives and the differences between national and local
elections, the importance and ongoing impact of elections, the roles and
responsibilities of representatives in the parliament, among which is to

be responsive both to the need of the voters in their electorate and to
the benefit of the bigger society.

Patronage system, kinship system or other systems of social
relationship which have long been embedded in the Thai society have

a major influence over elections at all levels. Under the influence of these
systems, voters make their electoral decisions without taking candidates’
educational background and working experiences into account, whereas

these attributes are directly associated with their legislative capacity and
competency in oversight over the executives.

Free and fair electoral competitions are not achieved as

negotiating powers between different groups are unbalanced. This includes
imbalances between political party leaders and candidates/political party

members, candidates/political parties and voters, and among candidates
themselves. Another factor causing unfair electoral competitions is the
system itself that produces conditions where major political parties are

more facilitated than minor and small ones.

How to improve the electoral system is an issue that has

come into attention. As it can be observed that, within 65 years of
democratization in Thailand, there have been major and minor changes

in the electoral system, including changes on how electorates are
divided, how to cast a ballot, how ballots are counted, how the election