Filipino Expats Blog in Thailand

At 5:00PM yesterday afternoon, Election 2010 came to a close. The turnout? About 700 voters.  So few? Perhaps, yes, especially considering that the estimated number of Pinoys in Thailand runs up to more than 10,000. But considering there were only around 500 voters who turned out the previous election, an increase of 200 more is already good news.

Siam Pinoy visited the Philippine Embassy this afternoon to get a few words from voters, as well as ask Embassy officials for comments regarding this year’s election. To some who have been here in Thailand for many years, the lack of information about the candidates is a major challenge. One voter said she relies heavily on what others say about the candidates, particularly for the presidency. Asking young people about who they think deserves to win, she says, is all she can do so her one vote is not wasted.

Another voter mentioned that election is such a hot topic that even her Yahoo! Group members have succumbed to heated discussions about the presidentiables, which she thinks has gone too far, considering that is not the purpose of the group in the first place.

Back home in Cebu, as one Election Watcher told us at the Embassy, her friends, whom she lead during Election times years back, were lucky to have this new automated way to vote this year. She reminisced about the times in the past, when she would read the ballots out one by one, until the early morning hours the day after elections. Back then, she says, Election Watchers were very watchful. The chairman of a precinct had to read out ballots while Watchers are behind her/him, with flashlights to make sure she/he does not call out a name different from the one that’s actually written on the ballot. She couldn’t even look into her handbag, without a Watcher scrutinizing what it is she looks into her handbag for!

For one who has never exercised her vote in the Philippines, it is comforting to know that there are still places back home, where election proceedings are taken very seriously. It is medicine to one’s disillusionment about Philippine politics, to hear that election stories back home are not just all about fraud, vote-buying, or rigging of the election process.

My apologies for the late post regarding this advisory. I am sure that most of you (and our forum readers) have already received this. But for the sake of those who are not based here in the Kingdom and are planning to visit Thailand, this is for you. And also please read the latest travel advisory from The Department of Foreign Affairs for Filipinos wanting to visit Thailand. Also for those who are already here, Mr. Fitness (an SiamPinoy.Net active member) shared several good tips that you can make use of in times like these. Read all the tips here.

PHILIPPINE EMBASSY ADVISORY

To : The Filipino community in Thailand

Re : Political tension in Bangkok

Due to the escalating political tension in Bangkok the past three days, the Embassy would like to advise the community to take the following precautionary measures:

1. Do not take sides in the ongoing political crisis;

2. Refrain from going near any of the rally sites or its vicinity; and

3. With the present tense situation, it is best to stay at home, as much as possible.

Please be guided accordingly.

(Original signed)
ANTONIO V. RODRIGUEZ
Ambassador

15 May 2010

Dear Kababayans,

Please be reminded to cast your ballots for the forthcoming Philippine presidential election.

If you have not yet sent your duly filled-out ballots back to the Philippine embassy or, have not received
your ballots, you are kindly advised to go directly to the Philippine Embassy.
Or, for inquiries, please call 02-2590140

According to information from Vice-Consul Randy Arquiza, the Philippine Embassy in Bangkok will be open this coming Saturday and Sunday (May 8 and 9) for all registered voters to cast their ballots. Last day to submit your ballots will be on Monday, May 10, 2010.

Please pass on to other kababayans in Thailand.

Exercise your Right of Suffrage —- Vote now, Vote wisely.

“Don’t ask what the country can do for you, ask what you an do for your country” – John F. Kennedy

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! Mabuhay ang mga Pinoy!

Kabayang Daisy Mendiol

16 April 2010 – The first week of overseas absentee voting had a good turnout of voters, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said today.

Overseas absentee voting started last April 10 in electoral precincts located in 93 Philippine Embassies and Consulates General around the world.

As of noon today, 29,383 registered voters have cast their ballots during the first week of voting, according to the DFA Overseas Absentee Voting Secretariat (DFA-OAVS).

The Embassies and Consulates General with the highest number of voters are the following: the Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong (5,389), the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh (2,639), the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah (1,464), the Philippine Embassy in Singapore (1,256), the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles (1,288), the Philippine Consulate General in New York (1,085), Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco (1,074), the Philippine Embassy in London (965), the Philippine Embassy in Washington D.C. (723), and the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait (694).

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The Embassy would like to provide the following updates on the 10 May 2010 National Elections:

•    For registered overseas absentee voters who have received their electoral mails, you may send your officials ballots back to the Embassy ahead of the voting period which is from 10 April 2010 to 10 May 2010. Once received by the Embassy, your ballots will not be opened but kept in a ballot receptacle for counting on 10 May 2010, 6 pm, Philippine time.

•    Please disregard the statement in the Instructions to Voters for Postal voting which states that “Failure to affix your thumbmark in the ballot coupon” would be a ground for invalidating the ballot. What will invalidate the ballot is the absence of the voter’s signature in the “Official Ballot Envelope.”

•    The following registered voters may pick-up their official ballots from the Embassy, anytime from Monday to Friday, between 9 am and 12 noon and from 1 to 5 pm:
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