Labour Minister Julapun Amornvivat announced via Facebook at 20:00 (ICT) that the election committee has voted to postpone the September 27, 2026 Social Security Office board election, pending a ruling from the Central Administrative Court.
Thairath reported that a person had filed a case with the Central Administrative Court challenging the rule requiring pre-registration before voting (per Article 2 of the election committee's notice dated 25 May 2026), and that the court has already granted the interim suspension.
The report also confirmed the underlying voting rules remain unchanged â each eligible voter may still pick up to 7 candidates per faction. Only the procedural timeline has been affected.
Before the court order, SSO had planned the following steps, all of which are currently suspended:
SSO Secretary-General Kanjana Poolkaew said the election committee, at its 6th meeting of 2026 on 27 July, voted to postpone the process outlined in its 25 May 2026 notice.
The court reasoned that the rule was likely unlawful because it prevented large numbers of insured members from exercising their right to vote, creating an excessive burden and restricting rights and freedoms â a violation of the rule of law under Constitution Article 26. â summarized from the Central Administrative Court's stated reasoning, as disclosed by SSO
The official committee notice cites Articles 6(3) and 6(7) of the Ministry of Labour's 2021 Regulation on Election Rules and Procedures for Employer and Insured-Worker Representatives to the SSO Board as its authority to postpone. The notice specifies exactly four things are suspended:
The suspended registration requirement itself is defined under Articles 3 and 16(4) of the same regulation, which require an employer or insured member to be registered with SSO in order to vote. The postponement notice was signed on 27 July 2026.
Independent news outlet Prachatai reported that the plaintiff was Seri Nuwong, a labour lawyer with over 40 years of experience, founder of the National Confederation of Employees' Councils of Thailand, and himself a candidate for the SSO Board's insured-worker faction â Candidate No. 16.
The petition argued the pre-registration requirement conflicted with the Social Security Act, which grants voting rights immediately once an insured member meets eligibility criteria, and that it created an undue burden excluding large numbers of insured members who lacked access to the registration channels â despite SSO already holding complete member data.
Everyone who registered â over 1.64 million people â and all candidates across both the employer and insured-worker factions (including Boon Arayapon, No. 2) were, at the time, waiting for clarity on how the process would proceed â which was resolved in August 2026, with the election proceeding as originally scheduled.
The SSO Board election proceeded as originally scheduled, Sunday 27 September 2026. No pre-registration is required.
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