Puea Thai Party's prime ministerial candidate Yingluck Shinawatra, sister of Thaksin Shinawatra, drops her vote into a ballot box at a polling station in Bangkok July 3, 2011. [Photo/Xinhua]

BANGKOK - Polling started Sunday morning in Thailand's first election after political crisis as voters are casting their votes to pick up 500 members of the House of Representatives.

As the polling began at 8:00 am, groups of voters are moving to polling stations that also caused traffic congestion in Bangkok.

There are 47.3 million eligible voters and 90,860 polling stations across the nation. Some 3 million voters, however, registered to cast their votes for the advance polling on June 26.

The Royal Thai Police deployed more than 183,000 officers to ensure peace and order during polling, while 12,000 personnel from combined security forces have been sent to secure 2,157 polling stations in the three southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat.