Villagers and supporters gathered, holding protest signs demanding a re-examination of the vote count for the "Ubon Ratchathani Constituency 6" election, fearing the officials' process was not transparent and fair to all parties involved in the election.
Reporters stated that at 8:00 p.m. on 9 Feb 2026, a large number of people gathered at the Khemarat District Office in Ubon Ratchathani Province, holding signs to protest and demand a review of the vote count for Constituency 6, which includes Na Tan, Khemarat, and Pho Sai districts. Khemarat District had yet to post the official vote count results. Meanwhile, the vote tallies for Mr. Kittikorn Cherdchoo, candidate number 2 from the Thai Ruam Palang Party, and Ms. Thanyatharee Santapan, candidate number 3 from Pheu Thai Party, were very close, differing by only a few thousand votes. This led supporters of Thai Ruam Palang to call for a recount, but officials refused to show the vote counts, prompting the group to protest about the lack of transparency.
Ms. Kanoknuch Nuchchom, director of the Thai Ruam Palang Party, stated that she wanted to monitor the vote count for the Constituency 6 MP candidates because Pho Sai District had already posted the official results, but Khemarat District had not announced the votes even the next day. Officials claimed the count was not yet complete. By evening, people who had heard the news gradually gathered because they also wanted to know the vote results.
Later, the Khemarat District Chief came to negotiate, requesting time to discuss with officials and promised to provide answers. Then officials brought out vinyl materials to prepare banners inside the meeting hall. When she and the villagers went inside to look, they were shocked to see many folded ballot boxes piled up and discarded, which increased their suspicion of a lack of transparency. They therefore called on relevant agencies to investigate and expressed distrust in the reported vote counts. They want a new election held for Constituency 6 and plan to file a formal complaint with the Ubon Ratchathani Provincial Election Commission.
According to the vote counts posted by officials, Mr. Kittikorn Cherdchoo, candidate number 2 from Thai Ruam Palang Party, received 31,581 votes, and Ms. Thanyatharee Santapan from Pheu Thai Party, candidate number 3, received 33,248 votes. There were 78,114 voters who participated, with 4,510 invalid ballots.
Ms. Patchareephon Thongsut, 50, a resident of Kalung Village, Saraphi Subdistrict, Pho Sai District, Ubon Ratchathani, one of the protesters, said she voted exercising her democratic rights and loves democracy. She questioned why Pho Sai District had completed counting and announced results, but Khemarat District could neither explain nor allow the public to see the counts. There were many doubts, and they demanded transparency and a verifiable election. They waited until evening for the announcement, but the results did not match expectations. Therefore, they want a recount and new election for transparency, as people like her have lost trust in how the ballots were handled. On 10 February, they plan to gather and file a complaint with the Ubon Ratchathani Election Commission.
