Thai election panel expects 80 percent turnout for referendum

By Aukkarapon Niyomyat and Panarat Thepgumpanat BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's election commission said on Monday it expected 80 percent of eligible voters to turn out for an August 7 referendum on a controversial constitution that critics have vowed to boycott. The referendum, pushed back from July, will be Thailand's first return to the ballot-box since junta chief Prayuth Chan-ocha seized power in a May 2014 coup, following months of political unrest. The turnout is expected to be 80 percent,