Ex-Senate Candidate Exposes Paid Campaign Scheme Linked to Phiphat
Former Senate candidates revealed a paid recruitment scheme involving disqualified husband-and-wife pairs filing simultaneously, with allegations linking payments to a senator in Region Four's 2567 Senate election.
On August 9, 2025, at Parliament, the opposition coalition coordinating committee led by Prisat Watcharasinthu, a Pheu Thai list MP, held a deep-dive investigation into evidence of Senate fraud in region four, involving financial networks and connections. Present were Panida Mongkolsawat (Samut Prakan MP, Pheu Thai), Yingchip Atchanon (Internet for Legal Justice Project director), and Bunyanucha Matthuchak to exchange views. Witnesses also attended, including retired Colonel Bannyat Piersawat (lawyer Krit), a former group-two Senate candidate from Phetchaburi; Panya Thapisa, a former Senate candidate from Nongbua Lamphu; and Montri Chiablaem, a former Senate candidate from Nakhon Si Thammarat.
Retired Colonel Bannyat stated that the Senate recruitment found candidates with disqualifying characteristics—husband-and-wife pairs filing simultaneously. He reported four such couples to the Election Commission on June 15, 2567, but received no update. After filing with police and petitioning Phetchaburi court, the court rejected the case, ruling he was not the injured party and required clear evidence of personal harm. The Election Commission later replied that only the second-filing spouse violates the law under a Supreme Court ruling, a decision Bannyat disputes as distinguishable from his case, but the EC deemed its ruling non-administrative and final.
Panya stated he was recruited into the scheme to find candidates at 5,000 baht per person, later discovering a former group-eight Nongbua Lamphu Senate candidate was the money source. He recruited about 20 villagers but withdrew after learning of higher-level involvement. He recounted hearing that 80,000 baht was distributed at a restaurant near Nongbua Lamphu Hospital, with 2,000 baht paid per candidate, and four payment lines operated in the province. Panya called on Senator Wuttichai Kalyanamitr to explain whether he directed these operations and detail the financial flows, noting some transfers were bank-based and others cash.
Montri Chiablaem, a former Nakhon Si Thammarat Senate candidate, urged others victimized likewise not to fear, stating they suffered in an election lacking integrity and fairness.
