Senator Denies Vote-Buying Charges, Blasts Single-Witness Investigation
A Chiang Mai senator denied vote-buying allegations referred to the Supreme Court, criticizing an investigation he says relied solely on one witness's testimony without verification or his formal questioning.
On September 15, Senator Vivat Kraipisitsakul, one of 26 senators referred by the Election Commission to the Supreme Court's election division for disqualification hearings over alleged vote-buying, denied any involvement in the case. Although he is a Chiang Mai senator, he has been linked to his younger brother Wichian Chaistatporn, a former Lampang senator removed from office for submitting false candidate qualifications.
Vivat said the Election Commission and the 26-senator probe committee have tried to connect him to alleged money flows used to pay other candidates for vote-lobbying, citing only one witness—a man named Athan—who made claims against him and his brother. He argued that if his brother committed an offense, that does not automatically make him guilty, and he plans to tell the Supreme Court he has no financial involvement in the case. However, the probe committee relied entirely on this single witness's testimony without verifying it, and the Election Commission never formally called him in to address the accusations.
Vivat expressed dismay at the investigation, saying the matter has become overly political. "I feel sad that good people find it hard to survive in this country," he said. As chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, he claimed to have done significant work for the nation, including addressing cross-border nominee ownership issues. "Yet I am being attacked without cause. I am prepared to fight this in the Supreme Court and am confident that justice will prevail."
