MP banned for 10 years over vote-buying in Thailand election
The Supreme Court has ruled that Mukdawan Luengsinil, a Bhumjaithai Party MP representing Nakhon Si Thammarat, is barred from contesting or voting in elections for the next 10 years due to an election law violation.
This decision follows a petition from the Election Commission (EC), which found evidence of her involvement in vote-buying during the 2023 General Election in Constituency 8. The court ruling detailed that payments of 500 baht to voters, totalling 25,000 baht, were made.
Mukdawan has been suspended from her parliamentary duties since July 5, when the court accepted the EC’s petition, and she now faces criminal prosecution. She joins Suwanna Kumphiro as the second Bhumjaithai Party MP to receive a 10-year political ban. Suwanna, representing Bueng Kan’s Constituency 2, was similarly disqualified in a court ruling last month.
Following this ruling, the EC is required to request that the Cabinet issue a royal decree to organise a by-election in Nakhon Si Thammarat’s Constituency 8 within 45 days. Mukdawan is responsible for covering the eight-million-baht election cost.
The anticipated by-election is expected to be highly competitive. Bhumjaithai Party has up to four potential candidates to secure the constituency, while the Democrat Party plans to nominate Chinnaworn Boonyakiat, a former MP for the area.
Additionally, Kongkiat Ketsombat, a local politician and Chinnaworn’s son-in-law, is considering running under the Kla Dharma Party.
The party, led by Agriculture Minister Narumon Pinyosinwat, was recently bolstered by defectors from the Palang Pracharath Party.
Once part of a coalition with the Pheu Thai Party-led government, Kla Dharma is now aligned with the Paetongtarn Shinawatra government and is believed to have political influence in Nakhon Si Thammarat, reported Bangkok Post.
Komdej Matchimwong, a former Palang Pracharath Party candidate in Constituency 7, is expected to be the United Thai Nation Party’s candidate for Constituency 8.
In similar news, a former finance minister has uncovered widespread corruption within Phuket’s police force, revealing an extortion racket targeting tourists.
Sommai Phasee shared on Facebook that officers are demanding bribes ranging from 10,000 to 20,000 baht from foreign visitors to prevent them from being taken to the police station.
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