Election Commission Accused of Selective Prosecution in Palang Pracharath Case
The Election Commission is accused of selective prosecution in a Palang Pracharath election fraud case, charging lower-level party members while protecting senior executives and MPs who allegedly initiated illegal financial transfers.
At a September 19 forum on election fraud hosted by civil society groups at Bangkok Midtown Hotel, Yingcheep Achjanant, director of the Internet Law Project, said the Election Commission has dropped charges against many of the 229 total suspects, despite pursuing numerous people connected to the Palang Pracharath party. While the commission did not prosecute senior party executives, it charged many rank-and-file members and relatives of MPs.
Yingcheep cited a case involving financial transfers in Surat Thani where assistant MP Subin Sakda passed 38,000 baht through party secretary Nisita Munchaiyan to senatorial candidates, but the commission only charged the lower-level operatives, not MP Pichai Chomphuphol who initiated the transfers. He questioned why the commission appeared to target only small players while protecting party leadership.
Yingcheep highlighted credibility problems with four witnesses connected to Palang Pracharath. Three of them retracted their testimony by submitting signed letters on the same day—notably on October 29, 2568, shortly after Anutin Charnvirakul became prime minister. He argued this timing and method raised serious questions about witness reliability and whether testimony had been fabricated or coerced to protect the party.
