BANGKOK: A few dozen early voters in Myanmar’s widely criticized elections cast their ballots at the country’s embassy in Bangkok on Saturday as polls opened for citizens abroad.
Myanmar’s junta snatched power in a 2021 coup which plunged the country into a many-sided civil war, but it promises that polls will move the country toward peace and democracy.
The phased election is slated to begin in certain parts of the country in late December, but early voting abroad has begun at a few Myanmar embassies, including in Hong Kong, Singapore, Chiang Mai and Bangkok.
There was a heavy police presence on Saturday morning at the Bangkok embassy, where AFP journalists saw around 25 people sign up in the first two hours of polling.
Several voters declined to offer comment.
There are around half a million documented Myanmar nationals in the capital, according to Thailand’s labor ministry.
The International Organization for Migration estimates there are 4.1 million Myanmar nationals residing in Thailand, many of whom have fled the war and are undocumented.
Officials at the embassy told AFP they did not know how many people had filled the required voting registration form, which had an October 15 deadline.
Deposed lawmakers excluded from the vote, human rights monitors and rebel groups opposing the junta have dismissed the election as a charade to disguise continuing military rule.
The military government introduced broad new legislation ahead of the polls, including clauses punishing protesting or criticizing the election with up to a decade in prison.