But last night, during an interview on the Krong Sathanakarn TV programme, Thaksin was quick to argue that the 16 million votes for TRT against "no-vote" ballots of 10 million, had brought about a 60:40 ratio and thus delivered him a workable majority.

He did not include the invalid ballots of more than one million people, which mostly represented a protest vote against him and his party.

If the invalid ballots are combined with the no-vote of 10 million, the margin of Thaksin's victory in this "referendum" - if not a one-horse race - is very tiny, at 43 per cent.

Thaksin promised before the election that if he won less than 50 per cent of the votes cast he would not assume the premiership.

With this election result, however, Thaksin claims to still hold the trump card and is once again sending out mixed signals about his political future. He said there had to be a good reason for him not to assume the premiership.

In Bangkok, Thaksin's challenge was met. There were 1.31 million no-votes cast against him, against 1.16 million votes supporting him. In the party-list election, Thaksin won 1.23 million votes, against no-votes of 1.26 million.

Bangkok voters were the most sophisticated, recording the greatest number of no-vote ballots in protest against Thaksin. What was remarkable in the Bangkok election this time was that the no-votes in 28 of 36 constituencies did not belong to the old base of the Democrats.

Thai Rak Thai won more votes than no-votes in eight Bangkok constituencies. In Minburi, for instance, the no-votes tallied 56,316 against Thai Rak Thai votes numbering 53,635. If the invalid ballots were combined, the result would still go against Thai Rak Thai, just more so.

Abac Polls director Noppadol Karnikar said Bangkok really reflected the political situation. In this election, he said, Thai Rak Thai lost 28 constituencies in Bangkok, which reflected the voice of the voters and which did not reflect any support for the Democrats either.

"The prime minister should not use the no-vote as an indication of support for the opposition. He should use it as a message from people across the country as to what they would like him to do. Although the no-votes did not reach 50 per cent, they really speak out about the wishes of the people," he said.

In Bangkok, at every election, the silent majority is represented by the swinging vote. The political bases of the Democrats and the Thai Rak Thai in Bangkok are the same. In the end, swinging voters produce the decisive outcomes.

In the South, in all 56 constituencies, no-votes exceeded the votes for Thaksin and Thai Rak Thai. In Phang Nga, where a single Thai Rak Thai candidate mustered more than 20 per cent of the eligible votes, the victory looked pathetic, because the no-votes amounted to 50,000.

There was still a big surprise in the eastern part of the country. In Chon Buri, the no-votes exceeded the number of votes the Thai Rak Thai candidates received, except for the constituency of Itthiphol Khunpleum. Chon Buri is renowned as a strong political base for the Khunpleum family.

In Nakhon Ratchasima's Constituency 1, the no-votes also exceeded the number of votes the Thai Rak Thai candidate received.

Chularat Saengpassa

The Nation