A majority of the 16.8 million who voted approved the military-backed constitution, and 15.1 million voted to empower a non-elected Senate to join members of parliament in selecting the prime minister.

After having had high hopes that voters would turn down the charter, some anti-charter activists are now in temporary retreat to deal with the disappointment brought by the vote results and to ponder over the developments. Despite their defeat, they are standing their ground, vowing to resume their battle against any suppressive regime actions until power is truly returned to the people.

Red-shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan, meanwhile, said that as an ordinary citizen he would just sit back and let the charter reveal its true colours.

“I had announced that if the charter is passed [the vote], I won’t run for MP [seat]. So, I’m an ordinary citizen now. I don’t have any pressure [of the kind] the referendum winner does,” he said. “I’m just going to relax, wait, and see how the charter works itself out or where it leads the country.”

The chairman of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) said the referendum results were not easy to accept at first, but said he had already let go considering how unfair the situation had been for the anti-charter side.

Until next year when the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) steps down – besides waiting for the charter to prove its quality – Jatuporn said he would continue to carry out his civic duty as a citizen and take the country towards democracy.

“I don’t believe the referendum on August 7 was the end. Rather, it’s the beginning of further injustice. It’s the beginning of another journey and battle,” the red-shirt leader said.

Sombat Boonngamanong, a pro-democracy activist widely known as Bor Kor Lai Jud, said he had spent most of the past week after the vote reflecting and drawing lessons from it.

“I am trying to figure out what message each ballot is conveying and how this democracy caravan should go. These are the thoughts in my head over the past few days,” he said.

Confident that voters would reject the controversial charter, Sombat admitted he was heartbroken by the results and the number of people who were with the NCPO.

“I was astounded. I thought the disapproval votes would outnumber the ‘Yes’ votes, but unfortunately it went the other way. I was so confident during the run-up to the vote. The result was a wake-up call,” he said. “It was a moment of realisation. I found I had overestimated [the pro-democracy force]. And I have to fix that or we will just make more mistakes.”

Sombat said he did not have any big plan yet about how to move against what he called the “undemocratic regime”. Currently, he is putting most of his time and energy into studying the referendum-approved charter.

“I didn’t think it would come into effect so I hadn’t really paid attention to it. Now, I’m seriously studying the draft. I have to dig into details of what it entails. This is my priority now. And after this, I will continue moving but I’m not sure for now how I’m going to go about this,” the activist said.

Pakorn Areekul, known among the activists as Man, a key figure in the New Democracy Movement (NDM), left Bangkok almost immediately after the referendum.

“I went to Khon Kaen to see Phai [Jatupat Boonpataraksa, a political activist currently in prison] and cheer him up after everything. And now I’m in Nakhon Si Thammarat, my home town, to celebrate Mother’s Day with my family,” he said. “I’m going to have to take it slowly after the vote. I need some time to think.”

Man is among those who invested a lot into the campaign against the charter, trying to encourage voters to reject the junta-sponsored constitution. Last month, he was arrested in Ratchaburi’s Ban Pong District for having anti-charter documents in his pickup truck, allegedly ready for distribution – a crime under Article 61 of the referendum law – and was released on a Bt140,000 bail.

He said it was a shame the referendum results had turned out the way they did. “I really thought we would win. Now we [NDM] – including myself – have to rethink everything and figure why we didn’t make it in the referendum,” Man said.

However, he said he was not discouraged by the results. Man said he would return to Bangkok this week and resume his activities.

“It’s what I do. It’s what I have been doing for a very long time since I was a student. And I will not stop doing,” the activist said.

Another prominent anti-charter and anti-junta activist, Jatupat – popularly known as Phai Dao Din – also remained in good spirits despite the referendum results and his current time in jail.

The young activist, based in Khon Kaen, was also arrested for violating Article 61 a couple of days before the referendum as he distributed anti-charter documents. He is on a hunger strike in prison, protesting against what he sees as injustice after the police raided his house in a failed attempt to find more illegal documents.

Viboon Boonpataraksa, Phai’s father, said his son “did not lose the smile on his face” after learning the charter had been approved in the vote.

“He was happy that at least people in the Northeast, his home, voted against it,” Viboon said.

He added that Phai’s health was not very good after days of starvation, but the activist remained courageous.

Viboon said he strongly believed his son would continue fighting |after he was released, though for now Phai insisted he would not seek release on bail.