Five names have been put forward to join the seven-seat Election Commission (EC), which will also comprise two candidates appointed by the Supreme Court, as the government seeks to "reset" the committee ahead of next year's poll.
The selection committee, which is chaired by Supreme Court president Cheep Jullamon, spent eight hours on Tuesday interviewing 15 shortlisted candidates.
They were asked to explain their vision for the job and analyse its perceived roles and duties.
The panel then chose five -- who now need approval from the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) followed by royal endorsement -- and explained why certain high-profile candidates failed to make the final cut. Those who were selected won at least two-thirds of the votes.
They are Ruengwit Ketsuwan, former rector of Chaiyaphum Rajabhat University; Thakorn Tanthasit, secretary-general of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission; Issaree Hansacharoonroj, former rector of Rajamangala University of Technology Rattanakosin; Chompan Sutheerachart, head of the Sutheerachart law firm; and Pracha Terat, a former provincial governor.
Their names will be presented by next Tuesday to the NLA, which has 45 days to examine their experience and personal backgrounds before making a decision.
The Supreme Court has already named one of its two candidates as Chatchai Janpraisri, chief justice of the same court.
The seventh and last appointee was scheduled to be selected Wednesday.
The 15 shortlisted candidates were drawn from five groups and narrowed down from 41 applicants.
The groups included those with state agency experience at the level of at least department chief or equivalent for at least five years; those who hold or have held a top position at a state enterprise or a non-state agency for at least five years; those who have been a professor at a Thai university for at least five years with prominent academic achievements; those with 20 years' experience practising law; and those who have spent two decades working in civic organisations.
Incumbent election commissioner Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, one of five members set to be replaced, hit out earlier at the new job qualifications designed by the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC). His complaints ranged from the bar being set too high in general to some candidates lacking experience in organising polls.
Mr Somchai also considered some of the criteria to be unusual.
For example, while a deputy permanent secretary failed to make the shortlist -- presumably because he was not the head of a state agency -- a department director-general was selected despite him being lower in the chain of command.
Mr Somchai also found it strange that assistant and associate university professors were not qualified, according to the criteria, while schoolteachers were because they held a professional teaching licence.
Another discrepancy in the qualifications excludes chiefs of military directorates, a position equivalent to a department director-general, he said.
The selection criteria also does not allow for anyone of lower rank than chief of the armed forces or national police chief to qualify, he said.
"This is the product of the constitution written by the CDC. We can't blame the selection committee, which goes by the book," he said.
NLA chairman Pornpetch Wichitcholchai, who is part of the selection committee, said many good candidates lost out because they have not led a state agency for five years or more.
He said some of the failed candidates have already filed official complaints.
- Earlier report: 5 new EC members chosen
