Thailand Polls Open

[dr dave soul monsta]

Thaksin Uncontested in Half of Districts

Polls opened this morning across Thailand for a snap election called three years early by embattled Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in an attempt to silence his critics.

His Thai Rak Thai -- or Thais Love Thais -- party is uncontested in half of the 400 voting districts mainly because of an election boycott by the three biggest opposition parties. Thaksin has vowed to quit if he wins less than 50 percent of today's vote.

As many as 45.2 million registered voters will cast their ballots in 86,905 polling stations in buildings, tents and booths before polls close this afternoon, electoral commission data shows.

Just 14 months after winning three-quarters of the vote in Thailand's most decisive democratic election victory, Thaksin dissolved parliament and called the snap poll to end months of demonstrations and demands for his resignation.

Thaksin, the only Thai prime minister to have completed a four-year term since the kingdom became a constitutional monarchy in 1932, has been attacked over issues ranging from abuse of power to conflicts of interest, media freedom, ministerial ethics, education reforms, free-trade pacts, planned sales of shares in public utilities and Muslim unrest.

Protests accelerated into daily mass rallies after Thaksin's family in January sold its 49.6 percent stake in Bangkok-based telecommunications group Shin Corp. to investors led by Singapore's Temasek Holdings Pte. for a tax-free $1.9 billion.