Approve 14,727,306 Valid votes 25,474,747 | Disapprove 10,747,441 Date 19 August 2007 | |
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14,727,306 7001578100000000000♠57.81% 10,747,441 7001421900000000000♠42.19% 25,474,747 7001980600000000000♠98.06% | ||
A referendum on the new constitution was held in Thailand on 19 August 2007. Had the draft been rejected, the military government would have had the freedom to choose any previous constitution to adapt and promulgate instead. The turnout was around 60%.
Contents
Proposed changes
Major changes in the proposed constitution included the following:
The military government announced that each household in the country would be sent a copy of the new constitution ahead of the referendum. A poll from July had seen a majority of voters in favour. However, in many cases "yes" votes were not real indicators of support for the new text but rather for quick elections, as the ruling Council for National Security (CNS) has stated that approval of the new constitution was a requirement for holding parliamentary elections later that year.
By province
There were considerable differences in the approval rates between the regions of Thailand. In six provinces of Southern Thailand (Chumphon, Trang, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Songkhla, Surat Thani, Ranong), the approval topped 90%. On the other hand, in 24 provinces in Northern and Northeastern Thailand there was a majority against the draft. In two provinces in the far Northeast (Nakhon Phanom, Roi Et), the rejection even topped 75%.