The diplomats asked how the Election Committee (EC) would deal with the situation if the Thai Rak Thai Party does not have a complete number of party-list MPs, and how it would deal with candidates in 271 districts that have no competition and are required by the Constitution to win support from at least 20 per cent of the voters, the source said.

Election Commissioner Parinya Nakachatree, who was present at the meeting, said the EC had already prepared solutions for such scenarios, but declined to give details.

He said there shouldn't be too much concern about the party-list or an inadequate number of votes in constituencies where there was only one candidate, as the problems hadn't occurred yet. In the case of less than 20 per cent of eligible voters casting a vote, the EC would have no problem organising another round of voting, the source quoted Parinya as saying. The source said information provided at the briefing was nothing new, as the diplomatic community has been keeping a close eye on the political situation in Thailand.

None of the Asean diplomats asked questions or voiced concern over possible negative effects from the current political instability on economic development and prosperity, the source said.