Chamber:
	Wuthisapha
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	4 March 2000
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for all the seats in the Senate for the first time after a new Constitution was approved in 1997. Prior to the Constitution the king appointed all members of the Senate upon recommendation by the prime minister.
Background and outcome of elections:
	Voters went to the polls on 4 March 2000 to elect, for the first time ever, 200 new Senators. Before the new Constitution was approved in 1997, members of the Senate were appointed by the Prime Minister. Voter turn-out was reported to have been one of the highest in Thai political history: 70 per cent of the 43 million eligible voters. The Law Society of Thailand reported more than 1100 cases of electoral irregularities, including vote-buying and political campaigning, both against the electoral rules, as well as the distribution of gifts. Under the new Constitution, Senate candidates were not supposed to be backed by political parties, but monitors said many candidates had links to traditional political parties. Candidates could not be eligible if they had belonged to a political party within the previous 5 years or if they were serving government officials. Senate candidates were prohibited from campaigning: introducing oneself was allowed, soliciting votes was not. They could make speeches but could not use the microphone. They could hand out leaflets describing their background but they could not make promises or comments on government policy. In all, the election had to be held in 4 rounds as a result of voting irregularities and fraud. After the first round, 122 seats were allocated. Many of the successful candidates in the ratified results were reported to be independent reformers. On 29 April 2000, voters in half of the country's provinces cast ballots for the remaining 78 seats deemed to have been won by fraud in the first polls. Two further rounds were called on 4 June 2000 in nine provinces to fill disputed 12 seats and on 9 July 2000. On 1 August 2000, the new Senate held its first session and elected Mr Sanit Vorapanya as its President.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (4 March 2000): Elections results
Voters	70%

Comments:
	Distribution of seats according to political group: Not applicable - non-partisan elections

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	179
Women:	21
Percent of women:	10.50 %

Distribution of seats according to age:
41 to 50 years	56
51 to 60 years	52
61 to 70 years	84
Over 70 years	8
Distribution of seats according to profession:
Retired	59
Business/Trade/Industry	35
Legal professions	23
Former Civil servants	18
Politicians	17
Sociologists	9
Farmers	9
Teachers	5
Medical professions	4
Others	21