Majority of senators expected to have links with ‘big-name’ politicians

Only 10 per cent of the new senators will really represent people from 20 career groups while the rest will be politicians sent by big-name political clans, who have been dominating their provinces for decades, and by independent or smaller groups of politicians, the observers believe.

Most of these “big houses” are now politicians under the banner of the ruling Pheu Thai Party, which could lead to a Pheu Thai-biased Senate, they fear. 

A total of 48,226 people submitted their applications for the senatorial election between Monday and the last application day on Friday, which was below the Election Commission’s target of 100,000.

The EC has boasted that the new complex system of senatorial election would allow the chamber to be free from the control of politicians.

The applicants must come from 20 occupational groups and they must vote among themselves instead of being directly elected by the people.

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 results are due to be announced on July 2.

The EC said the peer votes would prevent manipulations by political parties but political observers do not think so.
It has been reported that the “big-house” politicians in each province have sent their men to apply in all districts of their provinces in several occupational groups, including education, public health, farmers, gardeners and SMEs groups.

The “big houses” have reportedly paid 5,000 baht to each of their men – 2,500 baht for application fee and 2,500 for travel expenses.

If they pass the district election level, they would get more money for provincial and national election levels, sources said.

This kind of practice is happening in most northern and northeastern provinces as well as in the South, according to some reports.

Senate poll applicants in the North and Northeast have even been trained about the election rules and how to behave to avoid getting caught by the EC.

In the southern provinces, it has been reported that big houses even hired “peer voters” to apply only to cast their votes for target candidates. The “voter candidates” would get 10,000 baht each, the source said.

As a result, political observers expect the outcome of the new Senate election to be similar to the direct election of senators in 2000, which saw the first elected Senate in Thailand.
At that time, the Senate was dominated by men from big houses and politicians from independent groups.

After the Thai Rak Thai Party, which later became the People Power and then Pheu Thai, won the election to the lower House, the independent senators joined the side of the senators under the control of big houses, which in turn supported the Thai Rak Thai.

The Senate at that time was nicknamed the “Shinawatra Chamber”.

The elected Senate in 2000 was chaired by Suchon Chaleekrua and had power in appointing the EC, the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the Constitutional Court.

With the Thai Rak Thai holding both executive power as the government and controlling both the lower and upper chambers, academics and some activists called the political landscape the “Thaksin regime”, resulting in nearly two decades of political turbulence.