Activist Files Complaint Over Ineligible Candidate Nomination
An activist filed a complaint against Kla Tham Party leaders for nominating a candidate with a fraud conviction in a 1999 theft case, despite legal disqualifications barring him from running for parliament in Nakhon Si Thammarat.
On August 17, 2025, at the Election Commission office, Srisuwan Janya, leader of the patriotic organization Love Thailand Love Nation, filed a complaint requesting investigation and prosecution of former Kla Tham Party leaders, the party nomination committee, and all party executives who approved Khong Kiat Ketusomsap, a candidate for Nakhon Si Thammarat parliament, despite his disqualification due to a previous fraud conviction.
Khong Kiat was sentenced by Surat Thani Provincial Court (case number 3747/2542, judgment dated December 16, 1999) for theft under the Criminal Code section 335(1). He was originally sentenced to one year imprisonment and a 3,000 baht fine. After confessing, the sentence was reduced to six months imprisonment and a 1,500 baht fine with a suspended sentence of two years. This conviction legally bars him from candidacy under constitutional and electoral law provisions.
Despite these disqualifications, the Kla Tham Party nominated Khong Kiat twice: once as a candidate in the April 27, 2024 by-election for Nakhon Si Thammarat constituency 8, which he won, and again in the February 8, 2025 general election for constituency 7. Although complaints were filed regarding his ineligibility, the Election Commission took considerable time investigating both candidacies. The commission ruled on the second nomination on January 30, 2025 (decision 257/2569) and only ruled on the first nomination on February 9, 2025 (decision 301/2569), disqualifying him in both cases.
Srisuwan argues that neither ruling appears to have triggered criminal proceedings against the former party leader, nomination committee, or party executives under political party law sections 56 and 120. Such violations carry penalties of up to five years imprisonment, a maximum fine of 100,000 baht, or both, plus a five-year electoral ban. Srisuwan urged the Election Commission to take action, warning that inaction could constitute negligence of duty under the constitution.
