The chairman of the Election Commission yesterday voiced concern about what he described as a campaign aimed at defeating the national referendum on a new constitution.

"I'm worried about the referendum as there is a movement to defeat it. They claim that if the referendum succeeds, there will not be an election," said Apichart Sukhagganond.

"But we'll do our best and move on with the campaign for the referendum," he said.

Apichart added that the EC was also worried people might not understand what the referendum was for and whether there would be enough enthusiasm for what would be Thailand's first referendum.

The agency is responsible for promoting and holding the referendum.

Television station executives yesterday told the EC that they would help publicise the referendum, but warned that advertisers had already bought air time.

Apichart said the commission was targeting a 70-per-cent voter turnout with the Bt1.5 billion that had been earmarked for raising public awareness about the draft charter and Thailand's first referendum.

The EC chairman said the public relations campaign was set to begin on June 1 and would intensify from August 1. Bt68 million will be spent on television, Bt15 million on radio and Bt41 million on newspaper advertisements, he told a meeting on how the PR plan would use broadcast media.

Representatives from free-to-air and cable stations said they would broadcast programmes to inform viewers about the referendum, but scheduling would be problematic because advertisers had already bought air time on free-to-air channels.

The EC might have to negotiate with station executives again if it wanted to buy air time because advertisers made bookings 45 days in advance, representatives from television stations said.

Apichart said he had urged the Constitution Drafting Assembly to fix the schedule and budget for the referendum so the EC could fix its own schedule.

It is all but confirmed that the referendum will be on September 2, he said.

Atthayuth Butrsripoom

The Nation