Junta polls win sends country 'backwards'

A referendum victory for Thailand's ruling generals over a new constitution is a "backwards" step for the country, the toppled ex-premier said yesterday as the democracy movement reels from its first poll defeat in a decade.

The bitterly divided kingdom has been ruled by a junta for two years since Yingluck Shinawatra's government was booted from office.

The majority "yes" vote in support of the charter was the first test of public opinion since the 2014 coup, although independent campaigning and open debate was stifled ahead of the polls.

The draft was heavily criticised in the poll run-up for clauses that embed military power and straitjacket the role of elected officials.

But Sunday's vote lends legitimacy to a junta that says it alone can stabilise Thailand.

Unofficial results released by the Election Commission showed 61.4 percent of the country backed the document, with 38.6 percent voting "no".

"I accept the decision of the people," Yingluck said in a social media post, in her first reaction to Sunday's poll, adding she was "not surprised" at the result due to the bar on debating the document.

"I am saddened by the fact that our country is going backwards to an undemocratic constitution," she added.

Sunday marked her family's first loss at the polls since a charter referendum in the wake of a 2006 coup that toppled Thaksin Shinawatra -- Yingluck's billionaire elder brother.