Ex-top cop, royalist hospital chief join Senate race on last day

A former deputy national police chief and a royalist hospital director were among prominent figures who applied to contest the Senate election on Friday, the last day of registration.

Pol General Srivara Rangsibrahmanakul registered at Sam Phran District Office in Nakhon Pathom province. 

As deputy commissioner-general of the Royal Thai Police, Srivara was tasked with national security affairs and appointed adviser to then-prime minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha.

Srivara endured heavy public criticism for what many saw as leniency towards two powerful figures caught in scandals during his time in office – Ital-Thai construction magnate Premchai Karnasuta and then-deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan. Premchai was eventually convicted in the Black Panther poaching case while Prawit escaped censure for failing to register his luxury watch collection as assets, claiming they belonged to a friend.

Maj-General Dr Rienthong Nanna, director of Mongkutwattana Hospital, applied at Lak Si District Office in Bangkok, telling reporters he wanted as many people as possible to apply to maximise the country’s chance of getting good senators. 

Rienthong founded the so-called Rubbish Collection Organisation a decade ago with a vow to sweep away suspected lese majeste (royal insult) offenders. He was back in the headlines this month after police received a complaint he had slapped a teenager caught smoking in an outpatient restroom and ordered him to strip naked and walk out of the hospital. 

Applicants could register from May 20-24 between 8.30am and 4.30pm for a fee of 2,500 baht.

A total of 34,169 people applied to contest the Senate election in the first four of the five-day day registration period – still far short of the Election Commission (EC)’s target of 100,000.

Applicants could register from May 20-24 between 8.30am and 4.30pm for a fee of 2,500 baht.

Other well-known figures to register included former prime minister Somchai Wongsawat, former senator Prateep Ungsongtham Hata, former MP Jakkaphan Yomjinda, and actor Krailad Kriangkrai.

On Wednesday, former Special Branch police officer Santhana Prayoonrat was spotted submitting his application at Bangkok’s Pathum Wan District Office. The scandal-hit former policeman said he applied in the district because his birth was registered there.

On Friday, the EC issued a statement barring Senate candidates from receiving support from political officeholders, warning violators face a maximum of one year in prison and/or 20,000-baht fine plus a five-year ban from politics.

Expiry of the junta-appointed Senate’s five-year term on May 10 triggered the election for a new upper House that will see thousands of candidates vote among themselves to elect 200 senators.

The complex system requires six rounds of voting at the district, provincial and national levels. District-level voting is tentatively scheduled for June 9, provincial-level voting for June 16, and national-level voting for June 26. The result is due to be announced on July 2.
 

Candidates must be Thai nationals by birth, at least 40 years old, and have at least 10 years experience in their field. They must also have a connection with the district where they apply, either having been born there or studied, stayed, or worked there for at least two consecutive years.

Those barred from the election include political party members, public officials, senators under the current charter, former MPs, former government ministers, former local administrators, and former political party executives who vacated their seats less than five years ago. Also prohibited from contesting are parents, spouses and children of senatorial candidates, MPs, senators, political appointees, local administrators, and officials of the Constitutional Court and independent organisations.

Senate applicants will vote among themselves over six rounds to select 10 senators from 20 eligible fields: law and justice, education, public health, agriculture, science and technology, mass communication, employees/workers, business owners, tourism professionals, industrialists, artists/athletes, independent professionals, women, and elderly, disabled or ethnic groups.

Each district-level group will select five people for an inter-group poll to elect 60 district candidates. The shortlisted candidates – 55,680 from 928 districts nationwide – will then vote at the provincial level to select two from each group for a total of 40 for each of the country’s 77 provinces.

This will result in 3,080 senatorial candidates at the national level, where they will repeat the intra-group and inter-group voting to select 10 candidates for each of the 20 groups. The final 200 candidates who are selected will become senators.