Since the Referendum Act was passed by the National Legislative Assembly in April, the Election Commission and various government members have expressed their opinions on the legality of certain actions relating to the referendum vote.
The following 17 questionable actions are the personal views of election commissioner Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, based on Facebook posts and questions raised by Spectrum. His opinions are based on clause two of Section 61 of the act, which says "any person who disseminates texts, pictures, sound in newspaper, radio, television, electronic media or any other channels that are distorted from the fact of having violent, aggressive, rude, inciting or threatening characteristics aiming to induce eligible voters to refrain from voting or vote in a certain way or abstain from voting, shall be regarded as a person who instigates trouble in order to cause disorder in the voting."
Mr Somchai said whenever content is deemed illegal, it is also an offence to distribute it via radio, television, print or electronic media.
1. The National Democracy Movement's "Counter arguments of the draft charter" booklet is legal, while its booklet titled "Seven reasons to reject the draft charter" is illegal because it contains false information in an attempt to persuade voters to reject the charter.
2. Some 10,000 letters distributed in Lampang, Lamphun and Chiang Mai provinces are illegal because they contain false information in an attempt to persuade people to vote "no".
3. A slide summarising the constitution in eight lines, posted on the Facebook page "Stop being so pretentious, Thailand", is illegal because it contains false information in an attempt to persuade voters to reject the charter.
4. Destroying the government's voter list is illegal.
5. A graphic titled "What will happen if 'vote no' wins?" posted on the "Folly of Poo" Facebook page is illegal because it contains false information in an attempt to persuade voters to reject the charter.
6. Wearing a "vote yes" or "vote no" shirt is allowed, and so is selling the shirts.
7. The Resistant Citizen's "Let's Knee This (Vote No and Drop It)" song, which is aimed at persuading people to vote "no", is illegal.
8. A referendum song calling for freedom of expression and criticising some aspects of the draft charter, composed and sung by the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship's Nattawut Saikuar, is legal.
9. Mahidol University's Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies' documents on "The future of Thailand after the Aug 7 referendum Part 2: The main question and the additional question" might be illegal.
10. Giving an interview, posting comments or sharing content on social media declaring one's voting intention is allowed, provided that it does not contain false, rude or violent statements, or inciting unrest. However, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has stated in several interviews that those acts are illegal.
11. Showing and/or sharing symbols or signs declaring one's voting intention is allowed, provided that they are not rude, inciting violence or "indecent".
12. Seminars or panel discussions are allowed with the presence of government agencies, educational institutions and the media.
13. Inviting people to wear pins or stick signs, or the selling and distributing of such tools in an attempt to stir up political tension is illegal.
14. Distributing documents and leaflets are legal provided that they are backed up with academic reasons and are free from bias. The content must not be rude or aim to cause political tension or lead to protests.
15. The media is allowed to report news on the condition that the content is free from bias and does not lead to social disorder.
16. Campaigning to provide knowledge on the voting process and the draft charter is allowed as long as it is based on facts. Doing so in a way that causes political chaos is illegal.
17. Publishing the result of opinion polls in the seven days prior to the election date is illegal.
