The Election Commission has raised no objection to the presence of European Union officials to observe the July 3 general election.
EC chairman Apichart Sukhagganond said on Monday that the commission is ready to allow the EU to observe the election in Thailand since EU membership countries also have embassies in the kingdom.
Mr Apichart said the EC had told the EU during a recent meeting that it had no objection to the EU request to send a team to observe the July 3 polls as the commission was confident it could ensure the general election meets international standards.
Several other groups also wanted to monitor the election, however they had not been formally invited to observe the polls, said the EC chairman. Those groups had only notified the EC about their plans.
He said those agencies should carefully study EC regulations and familiarise themselves with the scope of election observation. He would not mind if they wanted to join the EC in visiting constituencies where the race was expected to be fierce, said Mr Apichart.
He shrugged off speculation that Thailand would have a problem if the EU refused to endorse the outcome of the election. He was confident that the EC could supervise a free and fair election.
The EC had not signed a memorandum of understanding with the EU on observing the election and any EU recommendations or conclusions would not be legally binding.
Full Article: Bangkok Post : EC allows EU to observe July 3 polls.