DHAKA: Polls across Thailand closed peacefully despite a boycott by the country’s main opposition party, but voting disruptions in some districts including in Bangkok means there will be no results for at least three weeks.

Voting was normal in the north and north-east, but in some parts of Bangkok and elsewhere in southern Thailand, voters were prevented by anti-government protesters from casting their ballots, election officials said, reports The Straits Times.

The Election Commission said 89% of polling stations nationwide were able to function, but 18 provinces were closed by protesters, 9 of them entirely.

In Bangkok, turnout appeared to be low, but the ruling Puea Thai party’s election director Sompong Amonwiwat estimated national turnout at 70 percent, roughly on par with recent elections.

In the Bangkok districts where protesters blocked polling stations, many voters expressed frustration.

Election commission officials appeared to cave in quickly to protesters from the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), who blockaded polling stations and surrounded district offices to prevent ballot boxes from being sent to polling stations at all.

Voting was suspended or did not even begin, in nine provinces in the south, and in 488 polling stations in Bangkok, out of more than 6,500.

Under Thailand’s laws, by-elections can be held within three weeks to complete voting, officials said. That means a clear result from the election is not expected before February 23.

Banchong Sukdee, deputy permanent secretary of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, was quoted as saying ‘The result will have to wait until the election is fully completed, otherwise it would mislead the public’.

Thailand researcher for the independent Human Rights Watch Sunai Phasuk expressed relief that there was no major incident, or bloodshed.

BDST: 1615 HRS, FEB 02, 2014