Palang Pracharath Party could be dissolved, ex-acting PM banned

The fallout continues after a drug bust at a karaoke venue in Bangkok revealed that the owner had previously donated 3 million baht to the Palang Pracharath Party. Now, the political party may face dissolution due to accepting what is believed to be “grey money” donations, with top officials being banned from politics.

Former election commissioner Somchai Srisutthiyakorn said that dissolution is likely for the political party if it is confirmed that the money received was nefarious. Officials are calling for a thorough and transparent investigation. They stress the need for honesty, accuracy, swiftness, and an even application of the law, implying fears of bias in favour of the large political party.

Under the Political Parties Act, if the money received from the Chinese businessman is ruled to be illegally, laundered money, the appropriate action would be to dissolve the Palang Pracharath Party and ban all the top members from participating in politics again.

This ban would include Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan who last month served as the acting Prime Minister of Thailand.

The fallout could be huge, with the former acting PM along with Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin and former party secretary-general Thammnat Prompao, who previously escaped political consequences for a drug conviction in Australia, facing bans from politics.

The Palang Pracharath Party has pledged that they would not dissolve, saying no one in the party knew who the Chinese businessman was when he donated. But the former election commissioner says that if it is found that the businessman had been doing illegal business before making the donation in question, the party is doomed.

He pointed as a reference to the dissolution of the Future Forward Party two years ago. That party had a similar donation scandal, with the party’s leader claiming to have loaned the political party 191 million baht which was interpreted as a donation thus rendering it illegal. The Constitutional Court ruled to dissolve the Future Forward Party as a result.

The whole dust-up was kicked off when 266 people at a karaoke venue in Sathon early Wednesday morning were caught in a drug bust. Of that, 237 of the partiers were Chinese nationals, including 111 men and 126 women. Drugs were found in the system of 104 people, 99 of them Chinese. The police reportedly found a variety of drugs, including ketamine, nimetazepam, and “happy water,” a drug cocktail containing MDMA, methamphetamine, diazepam, and ketamine.

A Chinese businessman, Haozhe Du, or Chaiyanat Kornchayanan, was allegedly behind the karaoke venue and several other illegal entertainment venues in Bangkok, Phuket, and Pattaya. Information that Chaiyanat donated money to the Parang Pracharath Party was revealed on Thai social media and news media.

Justice Minister Somsak Thepsutin acknowledged that Chaiyanat donated three million baht to the Palang Pracharath Party in 2021. It is alleged he donated the money to the government, and started a business soon after the donation before gaining Thai citizenship.