Every Thai party has financiers with shady businesses: ex-EC member
Former election commissioner Somchai Srisutthiyakorn said on Saturday that it was “natural” for Thai political parties to be financed by owners of “shady” businesses.
He said many of these people became election candidates of parties to which they made donations, mostly contesting for party-list MP seats.
Somchai, now a key member of the opposition Seree Ruam Thai Party, said that party-list candidates often come from three groups of people in the political party – senior party executives, technocrats and experts, and financiers.
“If these financiers donate a lot of money, they have a good chance of being among the top party-list candidates. They hope to get political protection,” he said.
Somchai served as a member of the Election Commission (EC) between December 2013 and March 2018.
He also noted that the law does not clearly prohibit donations from party financiers, who may have shady businesses. Though it is against the law for political parties to accept donations from illegal sources, these people can exploit loopholes, he added.
“It is natural for every political party – not just the Democrat Party – to have financiers like this,” said Somchai, who was a member of the coalition party before branching out on his own.
On Friday, the Democrat Party insisted that its former election candidate Ekachai Khajonboonthavorn, suspected of being involved in an illegal online gambling business, has left the party.
Democrat spokesman Ramate Rattanachaweng said Ekachai contested the 2019 general election as a party-list candidate but has quit the party “for some time already”.
The spokesman also said that nothing out of the ordinary popped up when Ekachai’s background and qualifications were being checked ahead of the elections.
“There were no legal problems that would prohibit the person in question from contesting in the election. The party took the usual steps prescribed by law,” the spokesman said.
He added that the Democrat Party has a clear policy of not supporting any illegal activities like online gambling, and maintained that the party does not accept financial support from those involved in underground businesses.
