The Election Commission (EC) said it was necessary for all of its members to travel abroad over the Songkran holiday period to prepare advance voting for the May 14 election, especially in three African countries where many Thai citizens reside.
Speaking after returning from inspection visits to South Africa, Kenya and Morocco, EC chairman Ittiporn Boonpracong defended the move on Tuesday after the agency came under fire for allegedly squandering taxpayers' money.
Mr Ittiporn gave his assurance that all of the ballots collected abroad would be transferred to Thailand as scheduled by May 9, adding the EC has been coordinating with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to help monitor their transfer.
The embassies in the three countries he visited are among seven in Africa that cover 57 countries on the continent where many Thais are currently living, he said.
Mr Ittiporn expressed some reservations about having the votes mailed by postal services due to the different transportation systems in each country but said he expected everything would work out fine in the end.
Regarding the ballot transfer, he said there are about 13 countries worldwide where diplomatic officials must transfer the ballots themselves, as there are no direct flights between them and Thailand, such as South Africa and some countries in Latin America.
Mr Ittiporn assured the press that the EC continued to perform its duties while overseas. Moreover, the budgets for the trip had been authorised by the House, he added.
