Barkar Nash (Page 1,084)

Party confident of its chances of winning despite fierce competition

The Bhumjaithai Party aims to make inroads in Bangkok in Sunday’s election after failing to win a seat in the last general election in 2019 despite fielding 28 candidates in a total of 30 constituencies.

The party says it has learnt from its last failure in the capital, which it said was due to not having a political stronghold there. To solve this, the party has invited former members of the Palang Pracharath Party, and others, led by Buddhipongse Punnakanta, the party’s election director for Bangkok, to run in the general election campaign in Bangkok.

This time, the Bhumjaithai Party is fielding candidates in all 33 constituencies, including eight former representatives in Mr Buddhipongse’s team — five from Palang Pracharath Party, one from Pheu Thai and one from the Move Forward Party.

“At least, we should win the seats from eight former representatives,” Mr Buddhipongse said. “We are now working hard to explain our policies to voters in Bangkok.”

Mr Buddhipongse said the competition in the capital is very intense, with many political parties involved. But the party has done its best to win seats in the capital, he said, especially in tailoring policies suitable to each capital zone.

For example, he said the party is committed to improving the transportation system in the eastern part of Bangkok in response to the city’s expansion. In the city’s northern area, the party has a policy to improve public hospital services because currently, there’s only Bhumibol Hospital to care for people living in Don Muang, Lak Si district and nearby.

“We have big hopes to get seats in Bangkok. That is why we have sent many high-profile ‘young blood’ candidates to gain strong support from Bangkokians,” Mr Buddhipongse said.

In 2019, the Palang Pracharath Party gained the majority of seats in Bangkok, with 12 representatives, followed by nine representatives each for the Move Forward Party and the Pheu Thai Party.

Wanwichit Boonprong, a lecturer at the Faculty of Political Science, Rangsit University, said Bangkok would see a strong contest between liberal and conservative groups. Among the conservatives is the new United Thai Nation Party, with Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha in its team, and the Democrat Party, which doesn’t want to repeat its last poor election performance in the capital.

He said the outspoken former politician and ex-massage parlour tycoon Chuwit Kamolvisit had attacked the Bhumjaithai Party’s cannabis policy.

Mr Boonprong said that if the party got just one seat in the capital, it would be considered a victory.

“It is a mid-sized party with most votes outside the capital. It needs to gain support from the capital to be the national party. But the candidates in Bangkok are weak and not powerful enough to win the seats,” Mr Boonprong said.

“But the party has potential in some constituencies, such as in the Klong Toey district or the constituency belonging to the candidates who moved from the Pheu Thai Party,” he said.

“I think the party might gain more votes for the party list,” he said, adding that the party might get support from its public health policy.

Among the party’s policies are premises to increase public hospitals in the capital to best deal with unexpected situations like the Covid-19 pandemic, in which disease control was rather difficult because most Bangkok hospitals are not under the control of the Ministry of Public Health.

The Bhumjaithai Party is also offering solar roofing to slum communities to help reduce energy costs. It is also offering a 100,000-baht life insurance policy to people over 60, with the after-death money being transferrable to their offspring.

Exat puts major ring road project on hold

The Expressway Authority of Thailand (Exat) has suspended construction of the Rama III-Dao Khanong-Western Bangkok Outer Ring Road expressway for a full week while investigating a fresh accident at the Rama II section in which a sizeable concrete slab fell down, killing one worker and injuring another on Sunday.

Both workers were standing on a precast concrete beam when it fell off the structure on Sunday afternoon, killing one of them and slightly injuring the other, said Somchai Auecharuphon, an inspector at the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare (DLPW), citing results of a preliminary probe into Sunday’s incident.

The falling beam had also resulted in about eight cars on Rama II Road being damaged, he said.

“The preliminary investigation also pointed to some flaws with a sling of steel rope used in lifting the concrete beam to be laid onto the expressway’s structure as a possible cause of the accident,” Mr Somchai said.

The sling suddenly fell off a lifting crane resulting in the concrete beam and the two workers falling to the ground, he said, adding that a team of engineers are examining the incident more thoroughly to find out the exact cause of the accident.

The actual cause of the accident is expected to be known within a week, and construction of the expressway has been suspended in the meantime, said Exat governor Surachet Laophulsuk yesterday.

The dead worker’s family and injured victim, as well as other damaged parties, will be fully compensated, he said.

“The remaining structure of the expressway had already passed a safety re-check after Sunday’s incident before traffic on that particular section of Rama II Road was allowed to resume,” he said.

“The part of the expressway in question is being built by CTB Joint Venture, comprising China Harbour Engineering Co Ltd, Tipakorn Co Ltd and Buriram Thongchai Construction Co Ltd.”

Dashboard cam footage from a car on the outbound side of Rama II Road, near a HomePro branch in Bangkok’s Bang Khun Thian district, showed a large concrete slab falling onto the island in the centre of the road at about 4.30pm killing a worker and damaging four cars.

The driver, Puriwat Peng-ampai, 38, said he heard a noise above him and then a huge concrete slab tilted and fell down.

The DLPW is also carrying out an investigation to find out if Sunday’s incident was the result of negligence or broken equipment, said Mr Somchai.

And if it turns out to be a failure by either the contractor or Exat or both to ensure sufficient safety measures that was actually to blame, the parties concerned might face charges for breaking occupational health and working environment law, which carries a maximum prison term of one year and/or a maximum fine of 400,000 baht, he said.

Pol Lt Col Thotsaphon Pankan, the chief investigator of Tha Kham police station, said no one had been charged in connection with Sunday’s incident just while all sides continue with efforts to find out the real cause of the death.

The accident wasn’t the first such incident involving the construction of the expressway over Rama II Road.

On the night of July 31, 2022, for instance, a five-tonne, 10-metre-long concrete beam fell off the U-turn bridge and plunged onto a car, also damaging a pickup truck, killing two people and injuring five others.

The bridge is outside Vibharam Hospital in Samut Sakhon’s Muang district.

Ex-monk believed to have swiped B300m

Police have found more money and gold bullion worth about 100 million baht buried behind Phra Ajarn Khom’s temple in Nakhon Ratchasima province, raising his alleged embezzlement to almost 300 million baht.

Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop Bhuridej, the commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau, said yesterday that investigators and members of the new executive of Wat Pa Dhammakiri on Sunday found about 80 million baht in cash and bullion worth about 19 million baht buried on a hill behind the temple in Pak Chong district.

To date, officials had found about 300 million baht worth of cash and valuables allegedly embezzled by former monk Phra Ajarn Khom, now known as Khom Khongkaeo and alleged accomplices, the commissioner said.

“The offences might go back to 2020… The motive would be the huge amount of money that devotees donated… The suspects may have wrongly believed the money came from the people’s faith in them, but that is not the case at all,” Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop said. Police had so far found only three suspects in the embezzlement case, but investigators were expanding their efforts. If more people were involved, they would face legal action, according to Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop.

Khom: Defrocked last week

Yesterday officers petitioned the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases to extend the detention of the three suspects for another 12 days while the probe continues.

They are Mr Khom, 39, his younger sister Juthathip Phubodiwarochuphan, 35, and Wuthima Thaomor, a 38-year-old former abbot of the temple.

They were arrested on charges of embezzling 180 million baht from the temple. Mr Khom is also said to have had a sexual relationship with some of his followers. He was defrocked on May 1. Mr Khom achieved fame for his meditation technique and had many high-profile followers. He denied the charges. Meanwhile, the temple has been closed to the public since May 1 following Mr Khom’s defrocking due to the ongoing probe.

Pledge offered after advance vote slip-ups

The Election Commission (EC) has vowed to prevent errors in handling Sunday’s poll while accepting criticism over flaws reported in the advance voting.

EC secretary-general Sawaeng Boonmee, who on Monday led media to inspect the sorting of envelopes to be delivered for a vote count on Election Day, said the poll agency will ensure no errors are made when the nation votes.

He expects a smooth election as the procedures are less complicated and more staff are deployed. On Election Day, voters will cast ballots at their respective polling stations, unlike in advance voting, in which sealed ballots are mailed to their constituencies for a vote count.

The poll agency came under heavy fire over its organisation of the May 7 advance vote. One mistake involved officials at a voting station putting postal instead of electoral constituency codes on some 100 envelopes of cast ballots.

Mr Sawaeng gave assurances that no ballots cast in the advance voting would be lost despite the mistake. The envelopes that contained wrong electoral constituency codes will be checked with the logbook of registered voters, but he noted that checking could be difficult in some cases.

“If the envelopes have no electoral codes, which I think is extremely rare, they will be sent to the EC for checking. In a case like this, checking is complicated,” he said.

Mr Sawaeng dismissed concerns that the mistakes found during the advance voting could lead to a court declaring the general election invalid when asked about such a possibility.

Dhanant Subhadrabandhu, chief executive of Thailand Post, said on Monday that the sorting of ballots from advance voting in the country and overseas is expected to be completed no later than tomorrow. He said these ballots will arrive at their respective constituencies on Friday.

Mr Dhanant said almost 70% of ballots cast by Thai voters overseas arrived with the sorting supervised by a committee comprising the Consular Department, the EC and Thailand Post. He assured that the sorting centre is monitored around the clock, staff are not allowed to carry mobile phones during work, and they are searched when clocking out.

The Pheu Thai and Seri Ruam Thai parties on Monday slammed the EC for its poor handling of the advance voting, pointing to mistakes made by election officials and overcrowding at some voting stations.

Pheu Thai secretary-general Prasert Chantararuangthong said many of the mistakes in the advance voting could have been prevented and strongly urged the EC to address the issues to avoid mistakes on Sunday.

He criticised the glitch in the online advance voter registration system, saying two voters in Bangkok’s Bang Kapi were told that their registration was incomplete and they were not allowed to cast ballots.

Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, a former EC member now chief strategist of the Seri Ruam Thai Party, said the party would propose setting up an ad-hoc committee to probe the EC’s handling of the elections after the House convenes.

He said the planned committee would look into the spending of 5.4 billion baht in organising the elections, the EC’s overseas trips in the past four years, flaws in advance voting and its role in stamping out poll fraud.

Former massage parlour tycoon Chuvit Kamolvisit also posted on Facebook, demanding the EC look into possible irregularities in the advance voting. He said there was an unusually high number of advance voters in Amnat Charoen, Yasothon and Si Sa Ket, and there were reports about the collection of national ID cards from eligible voters.

The hashtag — what is the EC for? — was trending on Twitter on Monday with more than 900,000 tweets, and more than a million people signed up for an online campaign at Change.org supporting the ouster of the poll commissioners.

Meanwhile, the voter turnout in the advance voting in Bangkok was 91.81%, which is higher than the 87% turnout in the early voting for the March 2019 poll, according to City Hall.