Myanmar voters say preparations for early voting in Thailand for their Nov 8 general election were poor and many voters missed out as a result.
Turnout of early voters for the election in Thailand was low because of a lack of polling stations, according to the Thai Allied Committee with Desegregated Burma Foundation. Advance voting for the Nov 8 election was held in Thailand on Oct 8-13.
"I believe several Myanmar people working in the provinces wanted to exercise their right but they couldn't do it because they could not travel to Bangkok or Chiang Mai," Myint Wai, deputy director of Thai Allied Committee with Desegregated Burma Foundation said.
The foundation is a civic group which provides help to Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand.
Despite there being more than one million migrant workers living in Thailand, only about 30,000 people applied for advance voting and only 20,000 turned up to cast ballots.
In the poll, a total of 1,171 seats at three levels of parliament are up for grabs. About 37 million people are eligible to vote.
Mr Myint said the low turnout and lukewarm enthusiasm were due to limited polling stations.
Had more polling stations opened in areas where many Myanmar migrants worked, more people would have registered and showed up to vote, he said. Myanmar voters were able to cast ballots at the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok and consulate in Chiang Mai only.
Mr Myint said more help was expected from Myanmar's foreign ministry and the Union Election Commission (UEC) for voters.
He said Myanmar authorities should have sought cooperation from the Thai government in setting up polling stations in other regions to help reduce travel costs for voters.
The Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown measures have caused financial hardship for these workers and even though the situation has improved they may have chosen to save their earnings, he said.
"Such voting difficulties might affect the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Aung San Suu Kyi," he said about the NLD party, a popular party for the working class. The party won the majority of seats in the National Assembly in the last election in November 2015.
According to Mr Myint, the Myanmar embassy communicates with people via social media. They were informed of the early voting process and polling stations.
Their applications are examined and verified though some are rejected as they are not on the voter lists of the UEC.
However, he said a campaign to raise voting awareness was remarkable. Several workplaces opened their doors to Myanmar labour relations officials to explain the early voting process to workers.
A woman homeworker in her 30s who cast a ballot at the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok said she feels sorry for fellow voters who travelled six hours from Nakhon Sawan or even longer, from Ranong or Surat Thani, to vote in Bangkok.
It also cost them 2,000 baht each to exercise their voting rights.
A native of Hpa-An, she said she had worked in Thailand for more than 10 years and is happy to vote for a party she supports and play a part in the country's democratic and national development process.
"We're glad to come out and vote but we are also concerned about low turnout," she said.
"If the government and those in charge of advance voting put more effort into facilitating voters, we think more people would come out to vote."