The People's Party candidate, together with supporters, rallied at Bang Lamung District to demand that the Election Commission recount the votes for Chonburi MP Constituency 8 after several concerns arose, including a request to inspect the original unit-level election result reports.
At 15:00 on 9 Feb 2026, in front of the Bang Lamung District office in Chonburi, Ms. Manaswin Jancharoen, known as Teacher Benz, candidate for MP Constituency 8 from the People's Party, along with Mr. Nathanatharn Pramulphong, prospective MP for Chonburi Constituency 10 from the People's Party, campaign aides, citizens, students, and vendors—nearly 200 people—gathered to protest and demand that the Election Commission conduct a new vote count. They also requested to inspect the election result report documents (S.S.5/18) displayed outside polling stations.
Later, Mr. Anusak Piriyaomorn, Bang Lamung District Chief and director of the election for Constituency 8, and Mr. Kamphrai Laosaan, Deputy District Officer for Security, received the complaint and addressed the concerns. They stated that the candidate's demands exceeded the authority of Bang Lamung District and advised the candidate to submit a formal complaint to the Election Commission.
Ms. Manaswin revealed that their visit was solely to request a copy of the S.S.5/18 form, which is the official report posted outside polling stations detailing valid and invalid ballots and vote counts for each candidate. However, when they sought to inspect it, the district office said it lacked decision-making authority and recommended filing a complaint with the Election Commission.
The reason for coming today was that citizens had doubts about the vote counting at each polling station and sent information to her as a candidate to see what actions could be taken, including whether a recount was possible. She traveled to the district to collect evidence to submit to the Election Commission, which will then review the matter.
They also observed non-transparent vote counting practices, such as: 1. Green ballots running out before pink ballots, forcing election officers to issue new booklets; 2. During counting at polling stations, the area was very dark with only one light bulb per booth despite there being about 15 booths, which was insufficient. This made it hard for observers to clearly see the symbols and vote counts, leading to miscalls. These raised public suspicion, and people forwarded related information to her. She plans to compile all evidence to file a complaint with the Election Commission.
Subsequently, the People's Party candidate spoke by phone with the Chonburi Election Commission regarding the request for the S.S.5/18 documents. The Chonburi Election Commission explained that after voting concludes in each district, such documents are collected and returned to the provincial office for verification and copying before being sent to the central Election Commission to be promptly published on the websites of both the provincial and central commissions.
Once official election results are announced, all candidates and the public can download these documents for verification. Regarding requests for a recount at polling stations suspected of lacking transparency, if objections were made at the polling station with a signed record, the complainant should submit this documentation to the Chonburi Election Commission.
Regarding discrepancies between the S.S.5/18 document results and the announced vote counts, the Election Commission explained that minor variances can occur due to counting procedures such as vote calling, ballot adjudication, or marking errors—usually within 1–2 votes. However, if the number of voters matches the number of ballots used, it is not considered ballot inflation.
When results are separated into valid, spoiled, and abstained ballots, slight discrepancies may appear. The responsibility of polling station officials (G.P.N.) is to verify ballot counts accurately but not to conduct a new vote count. Recounting is only permissible during the verification stage.
At 17:00, after the candidate explained complaint procedures with the assembled observers in front of the Bang Lamung District office, everyone signed a petition urging the Election Commission to consider the complaints and to conduct a recount promptly. Afterwards, the crowd dispersed peacefully without incident.
As of the latest update at 19:33 on 9 Feb 2026, with 94% of votes counted, unofficial results from the Election Commission showed: 1st place – Chaowalit Saenguthai of Bhumjaithai Party leading with 35,060 votes; 2nd – Manaswin Jancharoen of the People's Party with 31,463 votes; and 3rd – Chanyut Hengtakun, number 3 of the Pheu Thai Party, with 4,138 votes.
