Special Report: Snap general election in Thailand

    BANGKOK, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The voting for new round of parliamentary election wound up smoothly in Thailand amid the opposition's boycott and fears of unexpected violence.

    The election started at 8:00 a.m. (0100 GMT) and ended at 3:00 p.m. (0800 GMT) Sunday. The projected unofficial results is expected to trickle in late Sunday.

    Eligible voters cast their ballots in 8,6905 polling stations across the country under tight security. About 45.2 million peopleare eligible to vote in the country.

    Thaksin voted at a station near his house in western Bangkok, accompanied by his three children.

    "This election is very important for the direction of the country because there is a split right now," he told reporters.

    The premier encouraged Thais to come out of their homes to exercise the lawful rights.

    The caretaker prime minister called the polls three years ahead of schedule in a bid to extinguish the public furor sparked by his family's 1.9 billion dollar tax-free sale of stock in Shin Corp., the telecoms giant he founded before entering politics.

    He pledged to step aside if his party receives less than 50 percent of the votes despite the boycott from three main opposition parties.

    In last year's election, Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai party swept an overwhelming mandate of 377 parliamentary seats. It is widely believed this time his party would clinch another thumping majority on the solid support from the countryside due to its popularity among rural voters.

    According to the Election Commission, nearly 200 out of the 400 constituencies have only one candidate. The uncontested candidates have to garner at least 20 percent of votes in their constituencies, highly unlikely in some districts where Thaksin's party has little support. Any seats left unfilled could lead to several rounds of by-elections before a prime minister is chosen.

    However, analysts are pessimistic that the election could end the lingering political stalemate since neither the opposition parties nor the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) would bow to the ballot outcome.

    Major General Chamlong Srimuang, co-leader of the ad hoc PAD reaffirmed Sunday that demonstrators would resume their protest after the poll until Thaksin quit.

    "No matter what happens, we have to sacrifice for our country...because the only solution to the country's political crisis is to oust Thaksin," said Chamlong. Enditem