Voting in the North: mixed-up confusion

Here in northernmost Thailand, we’re in the midst of an election. A hilltribe friend of mine just voted – Thai style.  She unabashedly told me she voted for the ‘red-shirt candidate’. Actually, she voted for the Pheu Thai candidate, as there’s a separate ‘red-shirt candidate’ which my friend didn’t know about, but that’s besides the point.  The point is she got paid 150 baht for her vote, within a half hour of casting her vote. The phu yai baan (village headman) had promised his village’s block of votes to the PT candidate.  He got 500 baht per vote, of which he paid a portion to each voter who complied.  Whether he knows for sure how each of his peons voted is something I don’t know – however, it should surprise no one if he knows precisely how each of his villagers voted.

When I asked my friend why she voted for the PT/red[-shirt candidate, she said it was because Thaksin enabled her to get an ID card.  I reminded her, that she got her ID card 2 years ago, which was a long time after Mr Thaksin had left office. I also reminded her that it was I who paid for her ID card, not Mr Thaksin.  The bribe to the government official would have been Bt250,000, but luckily my friend kept it a secret that the person paying for her card was a farang.  So, instead, she was able to get the card (after seven months of concerted effort) by only paying a bribe for Bt50,000.  Maybe I’m mistaken, but I would have thought an ID card should be free or low cost for anyone who qualifies. Are individual Thai bureaucrats in the business of selling Thai citizenship for as much as they can get?

Ken Albertsen

Chiang Rai