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Voting has begun in Thailand's first ever referendum, in which people will choose whether to accept or reject a new constitution.
The vote, called by the military-backed government that ousted PM Thaksin Shinawatra last year, is also seen as a plebiscite on its seizure of power.

The government has sent copies of the 149-page document to all 18 million homes in Thailand.

Mr Thaksin's supporters want to see the constitution rejected.

They say the charter is the creation of an illegitimate government.

Turnout crucial

Election officials said they expected to announce the results late on Sunday.

Coup leader Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin urged people to vote, in a live TV address earlier in the day.




Coup central to Thai charter vote

"I would like to ask people to come out to vote in the referendum. Today is an important and historic day," he said.

The BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok says that anything less than a 50% turnout would be interpreted by many people here as a show of disapproval for last year's coup.

The constitution is meant to replace the popular 1997 constitution, which the generals tore up after seizing power.

Critics say the new constitution is less democratic, as it proposes that the Senate should be only partly elected.

But the government says there were too many loopholes in the old charter that allowed Mr Thaksin to abuse power.

Its also says the new charter has many other clauses, like those recognising minority rights, which are more liberal than before.

'No' campaign

The draft document limits future prime ministers to two terms in office and makes it easier to impeach them.

The military has promised elections to restore democratic government by the end of the year, if the constitution is approved.

But if the charter is rejected, the military has said it will pick any one of Thailand's 16 previous constitutions instead.

Our correspondent says the government hopes Thais will be persuaded to approve the charter to avoid leaving the country mired in political turmoil.

But there is considerable opposition to it in the countryside of the north and north-east, where poor farmers remain loyal to Mr Thaksin.

His supporters have been campaigning for the constitution to be rejected, arguing that it is illegitimate and less democratic than the one the generals threw out after the coup.