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There were many reasons why turnout for the advance over the weekend was very low.

"Voters may feel bored with many times election also we have only two months to campaign. But we try to fully speed up the campaign. Please exercise your vote to fulfill Democracy," Election Commission (EC) Chairman Apichart Sukhagganond said Sunday.

He is still hoping that more ballots will be cast next Sunday, the official election day, and expected at least 70 per cent of total turnout.

A total of 225,919 people, about 10 per cent of those registered for advance voting, turned out to vote on Saturday, Election Commissioner Somchai Juengprasert said.

Eleven per cent of Bangkok's registered voters cast their vote on Saturday.

Sunday, the second day of the advance voting, saw a small amount of voters turning out to cast their votes in many provinces.

Somchai reasoned that the turnout was very low because the new Constitution does not meet the people's demands.

Also the senate election system was not fair as no matter a big or small province there will be only one senator, he said, adding that the article of the charter should be amended.

Last week, 74 appointed senators were approved by the Election Commission. The remaining 76 seats out of the total of 150 in the upper chamber will be filled by each province, including the capital, sending one representative.

So far there were no reports of vote buying except in Chiang Mai.

Manop Sakdaporn, chairman of Chiang Mai's EC, said a few candidates, who were backed by high ranking politicians, conducted vote buying by giving money to kamnans and village headmen in a hotel but he had no evidences to prove the fraud.

Kesinee Taengkiew

The Nation