BANGKOK, July 6 (UPI) -- The latest election in Thailand was peaceful and orderly and the Election Commission "performed admirably," an Asian monitoring group said.
"Given the tense political situation in the country, the Election Commission of Thailand performed admirably to manage a process that has produced election results that generally seem to reflect the will of the people," the Asian Network for Free Elections said about the elections held Sunday.
"After years of political turmoil and violence that have divided the country, Thailand's citizens have voted and, no matter their political views, been able to express their political opinion in a peaceful and orderly way based on the rule of law."
The group noted there were allegations of vote-buying and isolated cases of electoral violence which were being investigated.
"Vote buying and the detrimental effect of money politics remains a long term challenge for Thailand," the group said.
Other issues cited by the group included large voting centers in urban areas being overwhelmed by long queues and traffic bad enough to dissuade busy voters.
In the election, the Pheu Thai party led by Yingluck Shinawatra easily defeated the Democratic Party of incumbent Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. Yingluck is the sister of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a military coup in 2006.
