The regime claims that it has just discovered that its advertised, "most likely" date for the general election will horrendously clash with another, hugely important event. For some time, the government has been teasing the likelihood for a general election on Feb 24. However, late last week came the "discovery" that tens of thousands young men and women will be busy in the midst of something else that day: University entrance exams, which will be held between Feb 18-23.
The constitution is quite clear about the general circumstances. In "Duties of the Thai People" under Section 50, every eligible citizen has the right to "freely exercise the right to vote in an election", while Section 85 requires the government to prepare and protect "direct suffrage and secret ballot". There is no way around it, so the government must make special arrangements for young people to both prepare for university exams and vote for the first time. Any sign of recalcitrance, or even lack of enthusiasm, would undoubtedly lead to charges that the government is afraid of the youth, and is actively trying to block their votes.
The regime has just three possible directions in which to proceed. The first is to change the election date. This would be tremendously simple in administrative terms, since no confirmed election date has been set.
