The Election Commission (EC) verified a total of 10,792 candidates contesting over 350 individual constituencies in the nationwide race to parliament.
Earlier this month, a total of 11,181 people had applied to run as candidates in individual constituencies. Of them, 389 candidates have been disqualified, according to the EC.
On February 15, a total of 2,810 candidates had been verified to run as members of parliament (MPs) on the party list, while 107 others have been disqualified.
A total of 500 MPs will be elected, including 350 MPs for individual constituencies and 150 others on the party list.
Meanwhile, a total of 68 candidates have been verified by the polling agency to run for the post of prime minister, including Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who has been named by the Palang Pracharath Party, and former PM and Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva.
In another move, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) of Thailand has ordered state agencies to issue immediate clarifications to counter distorted news in the run-up to the March 24 election.
NCPO deputy spokesperson Colonel Sirichan Ngathong, said that more people are now following the news as the election nears with wider spread of information through multiple channels, particularly the Internet.
Certain pieces of information made available to the public were embellished to give certain political camps the upper hand over their rivals, she explained, so state agencies need to monitor stories closely to prevent or curb distortion.
