We all go down to our electorial district to vote on the nationwide referendum to "Accept"or "Reject" the Draft Constitution of 2550 (2007 AD). Over 14 million Thai vote "Yes" and over 10 million vote "No". Most people are surprised at this outcome: that although the referendum passed acceptance and there will be general elections for a democractic goverment on December 23, 2007, there was a great number of "No"s. Many people think this is an indication that there are still a lot of people enamoured with Thaksin and the Thai Rak Thai Party and that Thaksin holds a great number of the mass in sway. My analysis is that the "No" votes comprised of 5 groups: 1. Thaksin and TRT supporters 2. Those that still want Buddhism enstated as the state religion in the Draft Constitution. 3. Those who have a beef with one or more points in the Draft Constitution and those who generally would vote "NO" on any issue because they feel they have made a statement rather than going along with the crowd (as it was generally expected that the referendum would pass acceptance). 4. Those who hate anything military and objected because they though the Draft was done by the military. 5. Those who feel that military rule is fine for Thailand under the present condition and are afraid of the outcome of any general elections, knowing who the political players are and the dismal choices available, therefore they don't want any New Constitution or elections.
Group 3 represents the greatest percentage of "No"s. For Bangkok, where Group 1 is small. the large 40% "No", in my opinion comes mainly from Group 3. Whereas for Buriram, where the "No"vote was to win, in my opinion Group 3 turned around and voted "Yes" so as not to go with the grain and led to the surprising "Yes" winning Buriram. So don't be awed of Group 1.'s influence from the results of the referendum. Another observation: Ballot design and layout should have had the "Yes" box on the right side and the "No" on the left, since most people have an increased tendency to check the right box no matter what the subject is all about.