Pheu Thai faces EC scrutiny over ‘nine millionaires a day’ campaign policy

The “nine new millionaires a day” policy of Pheu Thai has become a hot topic, raising questions, particularly regarding its legal compliance. The party's proposal is being closely scrutinised by the Election Commission (EC) to determine whether such a campaign promise is permissible under current election laws.

Following the EC’s request for political parties to submit their campaign policies by January 18 under the Organic Act on Political Parties BE 2560 (2017), the EC has begun reviewing Pheu Thai's policy documents.

Upon reviewing Pheu Thai’s documents submitted to the Election Commission (EC) and forwarded to the committee responsible for examining policies with financial implications, an EC source told Thansettakij that the policy was not included in the materials filed.

However, the potential penalties for the party would not go as far as dissolution but would include fines of up to 500,000 baht, with an additional 10,000 baht per day for any continuing non-compliance.

The Organic Act on Political Parties requires political parties to provide detailed information for any campaign policy that involves spending, including:

• The budget required and the source of funds to implement the policy.
• Value for money and expected benefits from implementing the policy.
• Impacts and risks associated with implementing the policy.

If the Election Commission (EC) finds any omissions, discrepancies, or has concerns, it can order the party to submit additional clarification and complete the required details within a specified timeframe.

Previously, the Election Commission (EC) issued a similar notification to the New Alternative Party. The party’s secretary-general and prime ministerial candidate, Mongkolkit Suksintharanon, submitted 32 additional policies to the EC after the filing deadline, which the EC said constituted non-compliance with the EC’s 2025 announcement on the criteria and procedures for verifying political party policies that involve expenditure and are used for election campaigning.

Under Clause 4 of that announcement, political parties must report such policies to the Election Commission at least 20 days before the date of the general election.