General Anupong chaired a meeting of provincial governors from all over the country at the Interior Ministry yesterday. Participants also included Deputy Interior Minister Suthi Makbun, Interior permanent secretary Grisada Boonrach, and directors-general from all departments.

The interior minister instructed the ministry’s officials to maintain neutrality and help prevent any attempt to create unrest ahead of the August 7 national vote. He also urged them to help encourage eligible voters to turn out in great numbers.

He told reporters that the Interior Ministry expected to rely on village heads and kamnans to help maintain peace in the run-up to the referendum.

“Kamnans and village heads are supposed to know what is going on in their areas. They have to be able to explain what happens. They have to work to the best of their ability and cooperate with all the relevant agencies. If they can’t do it or turn a blind eye to what’s happening, we will see what to do with them,” the interior minister said.

Anupong also said that he wanted the authorities to get the culprits who mailed letters with “distorted information” about the draft constitution to many houses in northern provinces. He said his ministry was working with local police and military authorities on this case.

He said that he had instructed ministry officials to focus on finding the source of the documents that could cause misunderstanding among the voters.

The interior minister said that he had instructed officials of the government’s peace and order maintaining centres to maintain neutrality ahead the referendum.

He urged voters to use their good sense when deciding which way to vote.

“Whatever the result will be, there must be no unrest in the country. Everyone has to accept the result. Neutrality by authorities is essential. If people do not have faith in them, there could be disturbances,” he said.

Police concluded that the documents confiscated in Chiang Mai did not distort the draft charter, Royal Thai Police deputy spokesman Maj-General Songpol Wattanachai said.

He said the conclusion was drawn after a working group from the Parliament Secretariat and Chiang Mai University studied the content of the documents.

The spokesman also said that police were examining a number of documents mailed to different locations in Lampang province to determine if they distorted the draft charter. Police would take legal action against the publisher and printer of the documents if they were found to violate the Referendum Act, he added.

In a related development, Election Commission member Somchai Srisuthiyakorn advised polling station officials to be careful in performing their duty on voting day to prevent possible allegations of vote fraud.

“This upcoming referendum will be watched closely by people in the country as well as foreigners. This is a sensitive issue. You have to strictly follow the regulations and guidelines,” he said during an orientation meeting of polling station officials in Prachin Buri province.

Somchai said no private watchdog workers would be allowed in polling stations but they would be allowed to observe the process outside the stations.

People could wear shirts embossed with “vote yes” or “vote no”, Somchai said. But he advised against doing so, explaining that while the act would not be illegal it would be “improper”.