Thailand Seeks to Run Honest Election

M A H A C H A I, Thailand, Dec. 27, 2000 -- Inside a cavernous workshop, men in blue overalls are welding and hammering away at stripped-down cars, racing to armor-plate them for Thailand’s election campaign.

Preecha Puchaneeyakul’s factory, the only one of its kind in Thailand, is where politicians and candidates go for extra protection before hitting the campaign trail.

The fact that Preecha’s business is booming may not paint apretty picture of Thai democracy as it approaches a critical Jan. 6 general election, yet in important ways the opposite is true.

Driven by economic crisis, and swept up in an Asia-wide push for cleaner politics, Thailand has rewritten its constitution and is making its boldest attempt yet to root out corruption and run an honest election.

At least 18 people have been killed and scores injured inelection-related shootouts since Nov. 9. Some 130,000 policemen have been deployed, and the military is on standby. Hundreds of grenades, rifles and pistols have been seized, and 200 politicians have asked for police protection.

But equally attention-grabbing this time around is the Election Commission, with its new powers to stamp out vote-buying and disqualify corrupt candidates.

“In 68 years of on-and-off Thai democracy, we have had around 20 general elections, but not even once have we been able to punish a candidate,” said Gothom Arya, one of the five election commissioners.

Financial Scams

Until now, that is. The National Counter-Corruption Commission, also set up under the new constitution, threw the campaign into disarray on Tuesday by ruling that the leading contender for prime minister was guilty of financial wrongdoing that could bar him fromthe office.

Thaksin Shinawatra’s Thai Rak Thai (Thai Love Thai) party had been expected to outpoll Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai’s Democrat Party and take the most seats in the 500-member House of Representatives.

But now Thaksin, a telecommunications tycoon, stands accused of having transferred millions of dollars’ worth of shares under the names of employees — including his maids — when he became deputy prime minister in 1997.

He said he would fight the ruling in court. But if he loses, he will be banned from political office for five years. The fall of such a powerful figure through legal means would be unprecedented in Thai history.

Meanwhile, the election commission is hard at work trying to root out the petty corruption that bedevils Thai politics, confiscating T-shirts, cooking utensils and stoves used to bribe voters.

“The election commissioners should not bow their heads to the dark forces in Thai society,” said Srichan Mungmee, 28, an office worker in Bangkok. “They are our hope for a new clean political system.”

The Road to Riches

Vote-buying mushroomed during the country’s economic boom in the 1980s. In the 1996 election, an estimated $800 million-$1.2 billion was spent.

But in July 1997 the Thai currency collapsed, setting off an economic meltdown across East Asia. That forced Thailand, and other Asian countries, to adopt tough economic reforms, and the attempt to clean up elections is one of the results.

Some think the depressed economy is making parliamentary seats more valuable, because they are an easy route to riches.

“The competition to get access to government budgets isbecoming more fierce,” said Pasuk Phongpaichit, who teacheseconomics at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University and has written extensively about corrupt politics. “I would say that you would see more violence in these elections.”

Yet today, after nearly 10 years of civilian rule, PrimeMinister Chuan’s government can pride itself on being moreaccountable than ever. Military commanders who gave tacit approval for all past coups in Thailand keep to their barracks and have promised to stay there, whatever the election produces.

Opinion polls say voters are likely to punish the primeminister’s party over such post-meltdown measures as selling off national banks and companies. Opposition parties have struck a nationalist chord by accusing Chuan of mortgaging the country to foreigners.

Parties never win majorities in Thai elections, and the reforms are unlikely to change that. The protracted bargaining with smaller parties to form a coalition government will likely result in a virtual freeze in new economic activity for several months.