RM20 for a vote in poor Thai north-east

Party that pays out the most in region can expect to win the national polls

ONE pocketbook issue looms large among millions of voters in Thailand's impoverished north-east: instant cash – as little as 200 baht (RM20) – in exchange for their votes.

If history is any guide, the party that illegally hands out the most money will win the populous region – and carry national elections this Sunday.

'Whichever party pays us more, we vote for it,' said Mr Sin Mapula, a 50-year-old farmer in Roi Et province. Mass vote-buying, now dubbed 'the Roi Et disease', is said to have originated here in the early 1980s.

The practice reached new highs in recent years under former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the billionaire businessman who was ousted in a military coup last year.

Sunday's elections pit the People's Power Party, made up of Thaksin loyalists, against the Democrat Party.

Widespread vote-buying was introduced by former prime minister Kriangsak Chomanand when he campaigned in Roi Et in 1981, according to Mr Charaen Thongsuk, an environmental activist in the province.

General Kriangsak also demonstrated that the party that wins the north-east – where 145 of the 480 seats in parliament are contested – wins the elections.

The practice has since developed into a network of canvassers hired and funded by virtually all the major parties and blanketing every village in the north-east, where many struggle to eke out a living.

'Money and the canvassing system are extremely crucial in winning the races,' said former senator Niran Pitakwatchara.

'Without using money and the services of canvassers, the chances of winning an election are very slim,' he added

Typically, a large party will assign one canvasser for as few as 10 families. Eligible voters receive 200 to 400 baht in exchange for a promise to vote for a particular candidate.

The canvassers, who earn a commission of 20 per cent or more, are invariably well-known and respected figures, so voters feel an obligation to reciprocate. Many are teachers, civil servants and local officials with years of experience evading election rules.

'I know Thaksin is not good,' said Mr Charaen, 67. 'But I will vote for (his supporters' party) because my grandson is a village headman and a canvasser. My grandson said Thaksin's party has lots of money.'

People are also paid to attend candidate speeches and rallies, getting free transport and 200 baht at the going rate.

Thaksin also launched popular programmes – virtually free medical care, low-interest loans and village level public works projects – that endeared him to voters in the largely rural north-east, said Mr Somkiat Ponpai, another local environmental activist.

'But what they like most is his money,' said Mr Somkiat, who admitted to accepting money himself. 'Money comes first and his populist policies come second. Vote-buying i a tradition here.'

ASSOCIATED PRESS