Revealing the compensation rates for polling station officials (กปน.) in the 2026 election and other positions working on election and referendum days, detailing how much they earn per day. Somchai disclosed that there are two separate groups: 9 election polling officials and 5 referendum polling officials.
On 4 February 2026, the general election for members of the Thai House of Representatives and a referendum will be held, as scheduled by the Election Commission (EC) for Sunday, 8 February 2026. Polling stations will open from 08:00 until closing at 17:00 for citizens to vote for representatives, political parties, and participate in the referendum.
For every election, the EC must prepare thoroughly, including ensuring that each polling station operates smoothly, transparently, and fairly. Therefore, it is essential to have "Polling Station Officials" or, as abbreviated, "กปน." to manage various tasks—from facilitating voters to counting and reporting vote tallies. Additionally, security personnel are needed to safeguard ballot boxes, ballots, and related equipment.
Regarding remuneration for officials in various positions, including กปน., there is a schedule of compensation rates according to the Election Commission's regulations on holding referendums on the same day as the general election in 2025.
1. Election Director for each electoral district: 25,000 baht per month
2. Chairman of the Election Committee for each electoral district: 25,000 baht per month
3. Election Committee Member for each electoral district: 22,000 baht per month
4. Subcommittee Member for each electoral district: 16,000 baht per month
5. Assistant Officer at the Provincial Election Commission Office (administration/finance): 19,000 baht per month
6. Assistant Officer at the District Election Commission Office (administration/finance): 13,000 baht per month
7. Assistant Officer at the Subcommittee Office in the electoral district: 13,000 baht per month
8. Chairman of the Polling Station / Referendum
9. Chairman of the Central Polling Station in-district/out-of-district/for persons with disabilities, the elderly, or the infirm / Chairman of the Out-of-District Referendum Polling Station / Chairman of the Referendum Polling Station for persons with disabilities, the elderly, or the infirm
10. Polling Station Officials / Officials at central polling stations in/out of district, for persons with disabilities, the elderly or infirm / Referendum polling officials similarly designated Training day: 300 baht per day
Training day: 300 baht per day
Vote counting committee members Training day: 300 baht per day
14. Committees, working groups, or appointed assistants to aid operations: 350 baht per day (temporary daily assistants)
15. Compensation for setting up and cleaning polling stations: 300 baht per station (normal polling stations only)
16. Compensation for transporting election materials: 400 baht per polling station (normal polling stations only)
At the end of the compensation schedule, it states that
persons in positions 1-4 and 6-7 are entitled to two months' pay. In cases where a re-election, re-voting, or re-count is ordered, additional compensation will be paid from the date of the EC's order until completion of the task. For work periods less than one month or 30 days, payment is calculated on a daily basis. Meanwhile,
persons in positions 8-14 perform temporary duties and receive daily compensation. In the four southern border provinces of Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat, and Songkhla (specifically Chana, Thepha, Saba Yoi, and Na Thawi districts), compensation for hazardous duty on training days, receiving materials, and election or referendum days is doubled for persons in positions 8-12. For positions 13-14, the doubling applies only on election, referendum, or designated working days, all within the allocated budget approved by the EC. In the event of re-voting, re-counting, or re-issuing ballots, polling station committees, referendum committees, or vote counting committees will receive compensation at the same rates as for training, receiving ballot boxes and materials, and election days, as applicable.
However,
Mr. Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, former Election Commissioner, posted information on 6 January 2026 regarding กปน. expenses, noting that although the EC has not explicitly stated the referendum budget, an estimate can be made from the total budget requested from the government of 8.9 billion baht. Subtracting the 5.9 billion baht used for the 2019 election leaves roughly 3 billion baht for the referendum. Regarding why holding the referendum alongside the election still costs nearly 3 billion baht, the EC's regulations provide the answer.
1.
The election and referendum use separate sets of polling officials: 9 for the election and 5 for the referendum. 2.
Polling officials' compensation was raised from 650 baht to 800 baht. 3. Compensation for district chairmen and directors increased from 15,000 baht to 25,000 baht per month (paid for 2 months).
4. Compensation for district committee members increased from 12,000 baht to 22,000 baht per month (paid for 2 months).
5. Additional expenses include printing and distributing documents to households, printing ballots, and delivering ballots, etc.
"To justify having 9 election polling officials and 5 referendum polling officials, their duties are separated. Otherwise, they might be accused of idleness. On 8 February 2026, election and referendum day, at the polling station, voters will see tents doubled in size and two separate sets of polling officials working. Voters will queue twice, verify identity with ID cards twice, receive ballots twice, and mark ballots twice, instead of having one set of officials handling all tasks once, which would be more convenient for voters."
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