Opposition leader urges voters to check polling station after family mix-up

The father of People's Party and opposition leader Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut was surprised when he went to cast his ballot in the Bangkok gubernatorial election in Taling Chan district on Sunday morning to find that his name was missing from the voter list.

Suchart later learned that he, Natthaphong and other family members had been reassigned to nearby polling station 8 after their registered house number was changed.

Suchart arrived to vote at polling stations 15 and 16 in Bang Chueak Nang sub-district, where he had cast his ballot in previous elections.

Unable to find his name on the voter list, he told reporters that his entire family's names had disappeared.

After checking with election officials, however, he learned that the family had been reassigned to polling station 8 following the change in their registered house number.

Suchart said the house number had been changed after the last general election, although the family remained in the same sub-district and district. As a result, they had not expected their polling station to change.

Natthaphong later arrived to cast his ballot alone at polling station 8.

He said the change in polling station had caused no inconvenience because the new location was close to the previous one.

He urged Bangkok voters to check their voting details online before leaving home to avoid confusion over any changes to polling station assignments.

He added that he had not yet looked into the reason for the change in polling station, noting that his household registration remained the same as in the previous election but that the polling station assignments had been rearranged.

"There is still plenty of time. Before leaving home, everyone should check where their polling station is," he said.

Natthaphong said the polling station appeared busy with voters, which he described as a positive sign.