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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BANGKOK 005881 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/MLS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM TH
SUBJECT: OATHS, INSULTS, AND RESTRICTIONS AMID THAI 
ELECTION CAMPAIGN 
 
REF: A. BANGKOK 5740 (CANDIDATE REGISTRATION) 
 
     ¶B. BANGKOK 5667 (CAMPAIGN RULES EASED) 
     ¶C. BANGKOK 5600 (MILITARY INTERFERENCE) 
     ¶D. BANGKOK 5578 (THAI ELECTION SEASON) 
     ¶E. BANGKOK 5482 (ELECTION DECREE ADVANCES) 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) Citing new election laws, the Election Commission of 
Thailand (ECT) ruled on November 16 that 111 "banned" former 
executives of the dissolved Thai Rak Thai party could not 
participate in the December 23 election campaign.  The ECT 
later said its ruling was merely advisory, but some affected 
individuals vowed to legally challenge the ruling on the 
grounds that it violated their constitutional rights. 
Political parties objected to an ECT plan to number ballots 
that they believed would lead to voter confusion. 
Controversy surrounded pro-Thaksin People's Power Party (PPP) 
leader Samak Sundaravej after he made sexually suggestive 
comments regarding a female reporter and the constitution, 
and when he failed to attend an ECT-sponsored religious 
ceremony forswearing vote-buying.  The press reports that an 
ongoing ECT investigation has confirmed some significant 
aspects of Samak's claim of a military plan to subvert PPP's 
prospects in the coming election.  In a move labeled by some 
as "reeking of politics," former Prime Minister Thaksin 
Shinawatra and Bangkok's Democrat Party Governor announced 
competing plans to promote soccer in the Kingdom.  End 
summary. 
 
POLITICAL ACTIVITIES RESTRICTED 
------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) Following the May dissolution of the Thai Rak Thai 
(TRT) party and the five year "political ban" of its 
111-member executive board, many TRT executives feared they 
would be banned from all political party activity, not just 
controlling political parties.  On November 16, their fears 
became a reality when Election Commission of Thailand (ECT) 
Chairman Apichart Sukhagganond declared that the former TRT 
executives, including former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, could not 
publicly appear with candidates for Thailand's upcoming 
December 23 elections, be photographed with candidates, 
appear in campaign advertisements, or act as political party 
consultants.  The ECT explained its ruling was based on 
October election legislation which restricted the permissible 
activities of executives of dissolved political parties. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The reaction to the ruling was mixed.  PPP leader 
Samak Sundaravej felt the ruling would not impact his party, 
widely considered TRT's successor, since banned politicians 
would continue assisting "behind the scenes."  Former TRT 
executive member Chaturon Chaisaeng called the ECT decision a 
"cowardly act" that violated constitutional freedom of speech 
protections and announced his intention to legally challenge 
the ruling.  Notably, even arch TRT rival Abhisit Vejjajiva, 
the leader of the Democrat Party, warned that the ECT had 
"overstepped its mark." 
 
¶4. (SBU) Following the backlash, on November 18 two ECT 
commissioners clarified that the ECT ruling was merely a 
"recommendation," but added that parties who permit banned 
politicians to campaign on their behalf could be dissolved by 
the Constitutional Court.  Banned TRT executives Surakiart 
Sathirathai and Suranand Vejjajiva, who had served on the 
Motherland Party's advisory board, resigned in order to 
reportedly spare the party from legal complications.  On 
November 19, some banned TRT executives announced plans to 
petition the National Human Rights Commission and Amnesty 
International over the ECT announcement.  Other banned 
executives announced plans to challenge the ECT ruling by 
leading a rally in a Bangkok park on November 23.  After the 
controversy erupted, we contacted the ECT on November 19 to 
request the text of the ECT's determination; ECT officials 
told us they had not yet issued any written ruling on the 
matter. 
 
 
BANGKOK 00005881  002 OF 003 
 
 
CANDIDATE REGISTRATION IGNITES CONTROVERSY 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶5. (SBU) Under the new constitution, 400 seats in the 
parliament will consist of representatives from 157 electoral 
districts throughout the country (an additional 80 seats will 
be elected based on party lists).  Each electoral district 
will contribute between one and three seats to the 480-seat 
House of Representatives, depending on the size of the 
constituency.  On November 18, the ECT announced that 39 
political parties and 3,894 candidates had registered to 
compete for these constituency seats.  Some candidates, 
however, protested an ECT plan whereby political parties drew 
lots to determine the numerical placement of their candidates 
on the constituency ballot.  Individual numbers will 
correspond with candidates of different political parties in 
each electoral district.  Traditionally, ballots do not 
indicate the name of the party or candidate associated with 
each number.  (For example, while in one constituency the PPP 
may have drawn the number "7" resulting in the ECT assigning 
the numbers "7", "8", and "9" on the ballot for PPP 
candidates, in another constituency it may have drawn the 
number "1" and been assigned numbers "1", "2", and "3".) 
¶6. (SBU) Candidates in some parties squabbled internally over 
which candidate would correspond to which number on the 
ballot, fearing voters would only remember the first of a 
party's three assigned numbers.  Many political parties also 
feared the ECT plan will confuse voters who may have to 
memorize as many as four numbers corresponding to their 
constituency and party list candidates of choice.  (Note: see 
ref A for the ECT party list ballot procedures.  End note.) 
 
CANDIDATES FORSWEAR VOTE-BUYING 
------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) As part of its campaign to stamp-out vote-buying, 
which has plagued previous Thai elections, the ECT invited 
political party representatives to temples around the country 
to swear that their parties will not engage in vote-buying 
leading up to the December 23 elections.  Eleven party 
leaders gathered in Bangkok's historic Temple of the Emerald 
Buddha on November 15 to swear before a revered religious 
icon that their parties would conduct a clean election 
campaign.  The media widely reported that pro-Thaksin PPP 
leader Samak Sundaravej did not participate in the ceremony. 
Samak claimed a competing engagement. 
 
"WHOM DID YOU SLEEP WITH LAST NIGHT?" 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Samak and the PPP have faced criticism for recent 
events perceived by many Thais as insulting.  During a 
November 9 press conference, Samak angrily responded to an 
inquiry on a possible rift within the PPP by asking a 
reporter, "Whom did you sleep with last night?"  (Samak's 
point was that some matters should be considered private.) 
At the same press conference, Samak called the 2007 
constitution "trashy" and vowed to amend it if he became the 
Prime Minister.  On November 14, National Legislative 
Assembly member Prasong Sonsiri called for an investigation 
into the PPP after the party allegedly distributed a pamphlet 
whose title associated the constitution with male genitalia. 
The bad publicity prompted some PPP candidates on November 19 
to ask Samak to "shut his mouth."  A high-ranking PPP figure 
speaking privately to us on November 20 conceded the negative 
publicity Samak generated had hurt the party's prospects for 
the coming election, although our contact remained highly 
confident PPP would win a plurality by a large margin. 
 
MILITARY DOCUMENTS CONFIRMED, WITH QUALIFICATION 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶9. (SBU) The ECT is close to concluding its investigation 
into Samak's claim that certain documents provide evidence of 
an effort by the military to subvert the PPP (ref C). 
According to press reports citing various named and unnamed 
sources, the investigation has confirmed that authentic 
documents exist which closely resemble those presented by 
 
BANGKOK 00005881  003 OF 003 
 
 
Samak, but investigators have found some discrepancies 
between the authentic versions and Samak's versions. 
 
FROM THE POLITICAL ARENA TO THE SOCCER FIELD 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) In a move with possible political overtones, former 
PM Thaksin, the owner of the British Manchester City soccer 
team, announced on November 16 that his franchise will sign 
three Thai soccer players and open a branch of its football 
academy in Thailand.  Not to be outdone, Bangkok governor 
Apirak Kosayodhin, a Democrat Party Deputy Leader, announced 
on November 19 that the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration 
would build a Thai soccer school for children with the 
assistance of Liverpool's Everton Football Club, Manchester 
City's rival in the British Premier League.  Both Thaksin and 
Apirak denied the announcements were politically motivated. 
However, some media commentators have labeled the 
announcements as "reeking of politics."  (A high-ranking PPP 
figure told us recently that Thaksin would organize events at 
the Manchester City stadium to celebrate King Bhumibol's 80th 
birthday, demonstrating his loyalty to the King.) 
 
ENTWISTLE