Decade without power sparks election boycott in Tak by Hmong voters

Some 1,000 eligible voters from the Hmong ethnic community in Tak province boycotted the February 8 general election in protest over the lack of electricity in their village, despite long-standing requests for its installation.

The polling station in Ban Khun Huai Tak Phatthana, in the Thongfa subdistrict, which had a total of 1,140 eligible voters, remained quiet as no one turned up to cast ballots on Election Day.

When voting closed at 5pm, officials reported the incident to the Tak election authorities. Police were informed and recorded that no voters had cast ballots at the station.

The boycott stemmed from a long-standing dispute after community leaders and villagers requested the installation of electricity in their village more than 10 years ago but received no response from authorities.

This unresolved issue prompted the community’s collective decision to abstain from voting.

Meanwhile, in Tak’s Constituency 2, which covers areas including Phop Phra, Umphang and Mae Sot districts, unofficial results showed 17,500 ballots marked as “abstain,” indicating that voters chose not to select any candidate.