The Election Commission today starts accepting applications for senatorial posts from members of the public at its head office in Bangkok and at over 800 venues across the country. The application will be open until November 30.
EC deputy secretary-general Nath Laoseesavakul advised those who are interested to apply early instead of waiting until the last day in case there are problems with required documents..
Applicants can apply as individuals or representatives of one of the ten occupation groups and must meet the required qualifications, such as being at least 40 years old on the application day, being an expert in any of the specified fields for at least ten years, born in the districts where they apply and have names in the household registrations for at least two years.
The EC will be responsible for overseeing the selection of the candidates to be done in three stages – the district level, provincial level and national level – with the candidates voting among themselves at each level until the list of the candidates is reduced to 200 at national level.
The final list of 200 candidates will be submitted to the National Council for Peace and Order which will pick only 50 as senators and another 50 as reserves.
Another group of 194 senators will be handpicked by the selection committee endorsed by the NCPO. The other six other senatorial posts are reserved for commanders of the three armed forces, the national police chief, the supreme commander and the defence permanent secretary.
