A severe rainstorm struck Chachoengsao's Election District 1, causing strong winds to blow a tent onto a vehicle. Officials had to abruptly stop vote counting, quickly moving ballot boxes into the village headman's house. They also coordinated with the provincial Election Commission to urgently assess the situation.
On 08 Feb 2026 GMT+7, a reporter reported that at approximately 17:00, after the polls for members of the House of Representatives and the referendum had closed, a heavy rainstorm with strong winds hit polling station 8 in Election District 1, located at the house of Village Headman Montri, Village 8, Khlong Udom Chonlajorn Subdistrict, Mueang District, Chachoengsao Province. This caused the vote counting process to be unable to proceed as scheduled.
As the polling station committee was preparing to begin counting the first ballots, a heavy downpour and strong winds caused the election tent, which had been set up since the morning, to sway violently. The officials quickly moved the ballot boxes, ballots, some documents, and all equipment inside the house for safety. A local security team closely guarded the area.
Shortly afterward, the election tent collapsed onto an Isuzu pickup truck belonging to the polling station committee, registered in Bangkok. This caused candidate signs, vote tally boards, and some documents to be soaked and damaged by the rain. Additionally, the strong winds severely damaged the roof of a nearby house, blowing off and breaking several roof tiles.
Ms. Kotchaporn Dechjinda, 29, a member of the polling station committee, said the incident happened quickly just as they were about to start counting votes. The heavy rain and wind showed no sign of stopping, forcing everyone to immediately halt counting and move ballot boxes inside before the tent collapsed. Many documents were soaked, but the three ballot boxes were unharmed.
Ms. Kattaworn Suwasi, chairperson of polling station 8 in Election District 1, Khlong Udom Chonlajorn Subdistrict, said they have reported the incident to the Chachoengsao Provincial Election Commission. They are coordinating for officials to inspect the site to decide whether vote counting can continue there or if the ballot boxes need to be moved elsewhere due to concerns about further rain. They are awaiting instructions from the provincial Election Commission to proceed carefully and transparently.
