Turnout reflects boredom

Obviously, the turnout shows how bored Thais, in general, and Bangkokians, in particular, are with the state of politics. And this lack of interest could end up being quite dangerous in the future.

Even EC commissioner Praphan Naikowit said the low turnout showed the voters' boredom.

"Even though some people showed up to cast their votes, the [political] problems remain," he said, though he also blamed the low votes on rain and floods.

Democrat candidate Watchara Phethong won with only 49,346 votes, while People Power Party's Sawaeng Rirkcharal got 42,537 votes. The numbers are ridiculously low when compared to the December polls, when Watchara secured 94,407 votes but still lost.

The by-election was held to fill the seat vacated by Sutha Chansaeng, who quit as PPP MP due to health reasons.

However, despite the low turnout, the result is politically significant - a sign that Bangkok residents have rejected the ruling PPP party.

"The government should use this result to review themselves," Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva advised.

The PPP, on the other hand, just put the loss down to the low turnout.

"Voters are confused about the current state of politics, so they chose not to cast their votes.

"Also we [the PPP-led government] have just come into power, so they have not had the chance to pay much attention to our policies," said Deputy Public Health Minister Wicharn Meenchainant, adding that Constituency 11 was a Democrat base anyway. Wicharn is in charge of the PPP in Bangkok.

However, the victory might indicate that for the time being, any candidate running under the Democrat banner, has a good chance of winning.

As they say, a Democrat win in the South is as certain as sunrise.

Though Watchara has yet to prove himself, his win as a Democrat candidate shows that PPP's popularity is on the slide in Bangkok, probably due to all the noise being made by anti-government protesters.

Still, the ruling party should look upon this defeat as a lesson.

Maybe, if Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat has to dissolve the House right now, then perhaps PPP MPs would lose their footing - especially in Bangkok.