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Thailand Vote 2007


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THE NATION

23 Nov 2007

 

Vote-buyers get savvy:

Canvassers use ATM transfers, credit lines at stores and are 'difficult to catch'

 

 

Vote-buying has entered the modern era with sophisticated new tactics such as transfers of money through ATM machines and Smart Cards instead of simple cash hand-outs.

 

"Forms of vote-buying have changed a great deal. In the past, it was done through canvassers who directly handed money to voters, but doing so left clear evidence. If they got caught, the candidates were given a 'red card' and disqualified, Deputy Chart Thai leader Somsak Prisananatakul said.

 

"Canvassers now secretly ask people for their bank account numbers, if they hold ATM cards, and then transfer the money. It leaves no evidence and through the ATM, the transferer's name might remain unknown."

 

Besides paying via ATM, vote-buyers can also let voters pick commodities from shops in the village without having to pay. Vote-buyers pay the shop owners later. Villagers usually buy goods on credit anyway, so it is difficult to spot, he said.

 

"These tactics are hard to catch and vote-buyers might just be given a 'yellow card' (and be suspended from re-election). Some politicians now think of how to buy votes in ways that make it difficult to get caught," the veteran politician said.

 

The latest poll by Bangkok University shows the most popular forms of vote-buying include giving money or promising to give money, in cash or via ATM machines.

 

Paying tuition fees for voters' children and instalment payments also occurs.

 

Promising to give benefits or doing something for the community and giving gift vouchers were also popular, the poll revealed.

 

Cash can be deposited or transferred to bank accounts via ATMs (automatic teller machines). Giving away mobile phone top-up cards is another way of buying votes.

 

The 7-Eleven Smart Purse card is another way to transfer money. Canvassers give money to shop employees and inform them the number of a Smart Purse held by any voter they want to transfer the money to.

 

However, the 7-Eleven Call Centre said money transfers using the cards require registration and ID numbers of both parties.

 

Chamlong Krutkhuntod, one of the 111 former Thai Rak Thai executives whose voting right has been suspended for five years, said canvassers were an important and effective mechanism in vote-buying.

 

When he first entered politics 30 years ago, there was no buying votes, Chamlong said. Candidates would do something to please villagers, such as providing free movies in public.

 

Giving out money started when candidates from other parties ran in an election, he said. The people's mindset changed from helping each other as a community to becoming more money orientated. It became a tradition and now a candidate who fails to give out money has a very slim chance of winning.

 

Matchima Thipataya party-list candidate Maleerat Kaewka, the former Sakon Nakhon MP and senator, said canvassing had become popular as a profession.

 

Canvassers get money by providing candidates with lists of voters' names. They then give a candidate's money to the voters, taking at least a 20 per cent commission, she said.

 

Ballot counting at the election unit also promotes vote-buying, since it is easy to check if a canvasser has done his job. If the candidate wins, the buyer might be rewarded. But if they lose, a canvasser might get injured.

 

"I've never seen anything like this before, canvassing as a profession," she said.

 

Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, secretary-general of People's Network for Elections in Thailand (P-Net), said canvassers were very popular because they were effective.

 

They used various techniques. Money paid to individual voters was usually Bt200 and Bt500 per family.

 

Pay for joining a rally to make a candidate appear more popular than he or she really is ranges from Bt100 to Bt200. Vehicle owners who bring people to a rally might receive Bt1,000 to Bt2,000 per pick-up full.

 

Other tactics include sponsoring village activities, free trips, and transportation from Bangkok to a voter's hometown to cast ballots, he said.

 

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