The date for the upcoming general election in Thailand proposed by the Election Commission (EC) has been approved by the Thai cabinet, the official Thai News Agency reported on Wednesday.

At the mobile meeting in the kingdom's southern province of Trang Thai on Tuesday, the Thai cabinet agreed to set the newly-designated date, Feb. 6, 2005, as the date for next year's general election.

Earlier, the EC planed to set Feb. 13, 2005 as the election date, but later decided to bring it forward, as suggested by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Applications for party-list candidates from all political parties will start from Jan. 7 to 9 at the Thai-Japanese Youth Center in Bangkok, while those for constituency-based candidates will begin from Jan. 10 to 14, said the EC.

"We invite all eligible voters to exercise their rights on Feb.6," EC Chairman Pol. Gen. Vasana Puemlap was quoted as saying.

The election agency will soon announce the dates for advanced election and overseas voting for Thais living abroad.

Source: Xinhua