Each Thai Rak Thai MP candidate given a $5,000 personal grant to remain with party

Outside of some cartoony regimes in Africa, I can't think of another place where it's perfectly legal for a political party to openly bribe its members. This isn't campaign financing, soft money, or 'pork barrel' politics. This is straight-up 'Here's a wad of cash for your personal use, now be a good guy and don't change parties.'

Each MP hopeful given Bt200,000 incentive to stay

Ruling party leader attempts to lock in support as battle for TRT's future looms

Thai Rak Thai Party leader Thaksin Shinawatra has doled out Bt200,000 for each of his MPs seeking re-election in a show of confidence that he can secure a comeback as prime minister and win the court battle over the disbanding of his party.

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"Thai Rak Thai will never be disbanded. It is a major party in Thailand and all hell will break loose if its extinction is decreed," a source quoted Thaksin as saying at yesterday's party meeting.

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"Please rest assured that the new election will happen and that Thai Rak Thai will win another term under my leadership," he said.

Reacting to reports that Thaksin had inside information on the prosecution order against Thai Rak Thai, party executive Suranand Vejjajiva said Thaksin had heard about the matter from the local press.

"The ruling party had no advance warning," he said.

Suranand said the ruling party was innocent and was not involved in the bankrolling of small parties.

He said he had found no precedent for disbanding a ruling party anywhere in the world. In the United States, the Republican Party remained intact after the impeachment of President Richard Nixon, he added. [ed. true, but Thailand's ad hoc constitutional and legal framework has always differed radically from that of the US or any semi-civilized nation, so it stands to reason the results will be uniquely Thai as well. Besides, it's all right there, written down in the Thai constitution. Suranand should take a look at that document some time.]