Attention is focused on the Election Commission's secret meeting to discuss Sa-wang Boonmee's potential removal following his failure to meet the 2025 evaluation criteria. There is also a legal issue over whether former board members have the right to participate in the evaluation.
On 4 Jun 2026 at 17:00 GMT+7 at the Election Commission (EC) office, reporters learned that after the EC meeting addressing the management of the EC office, a secret meeting of seven members took place. It is expected that this meeting discussed rumors that Mr. Sa-wang Boonmee might lose his post as EC Secretary-General because the EC chaired by Mr. Itthiporn Boonprakong gave his 2025 performance an evaluation below the 60% passing threshold. The office is awaiting the decisive opinion of Commissioner Thitikhet Nuchanat before compiling and presenting the matter for consideration in the mid-month meeting. During this meeting, preliminary discussions were held on how to proceed, including reviewing the current Secretary-General's performance. There was also debate on the legal question of whether former commissioners, who have already left their positions, have the authority to conduct evaluations, as the assessment was only done in early June 2026 after they had already vacated their posts. This appears to conflict with the employment contract stipulating that evaluators must be current commissioners, and past evaluations have only been conducted by sitting commissioners.
A source stated that previously, former commissioners Thawatchai Therdpaothai and Chatchai Chanprayasri, who had left their positions, did not conduct evaluations. Instead, the new commissioner, Mr. Chai Nakornchai, who assumed office after the evaluation year, performed the evaluation. However, this time, former commissioners who no longer hold office conducted the evaluation, while current commissioners did not participate. This differs from the 2023 evaluation conducted under the same contract. Additionally, some former commissioners who have left their posts have yet to submit their evaluation results, and some have sent letters inquiring whether former commissioners have the legal authority to evaluate, under what laws or contract clauses, and whether former commissioners have previously conducted evaluations. The office must study these issues and present them to the EC meeting along with the former commission’s evaluation results. If the current EC accepts the former commission’s evaluation and votes in accordance with the EC regulations on the criteria and methods for appointing the EC Secretary-General 2017, Article 14(5), it states that a resolution to remove someone from office requires a majority vote exceeding half of all existing commissioners.