Colours seen as vital ingredient to election success.

Colours seen as vital ingredient to election success.

Conducting a campaign that wins over voters is the first step to electoral success.

Published on December 11, 2007

Candidates need to ensure they are potential "picks" in their constituencies. To achieve this end, political parties invests hundreds of millions of baht into their campaigns.

It's not only about money, though. Each party's strategists focus on "themes and content" to woo the electorate. A look at the election campaigns of the five leading political parties contesting the December 23 poll gives us an insight into their thinking.

Colour has emerged as a key campaign element in this election.

The People Power Party (PPP) dropped its original red and blue and chose orange as its main colour for the campaign.

"Orange is lively," said PPP secretary-general Surapong Suebwonglee, a former member of the Thai Rak Thai (TRT) Party whose government was deposed in the September 19 coup last year and which was dissolved in May this year.

"We see the orange colour when the sun rises. It's like the dawn of a new day. It has a good meaning for us," Surapong said.

In contrast, the 60-year-old Democrat Party still uses its original blue colour.

"The Democrat Party is an old, established party. We have used the blue colour for a long time, so we have no need to change it," said Korbsak Sabhavasu, a key Democrat strategist.

However, some Democrat candidates did wear yellow jackets at their rallies in honour of His Majesty the King, he said.

The Chart Thai Party wanted a campaign colour that stood out instead of the red, white or blue typically used in recent elections.

"We use bright pink and orange to catch the attention

of passers-by or viewers," saidWeerasak Kolsurat, a party-list candidate.

Kasemsan Weerakun, a Bangkok candidate of the Ruam Jai Thai Chart Pattana Party, said his party used various colours during campaigns.

Red and blue were used in leaflets while adverts in print media stuck to black and white to make the message stand out, he said.

However, some candidates are using different colours in their constituencies, Kasemsan said. The exceptions included him and other party mem-

bers running in Bangkok's Constituency 8. They are using green to focus their campaign on reducing pollution and improving the local environment, he said.

The Puea Pandin Party has picked colours which it believes represent a united nation, said Pisuth Dechakaisaya, the party's director of election affairs. They include red representing the nation, white for the religion, blue for the monarchy and yellow for the King.

Besides colour, the party's message is also a key area of focus in the campaign.

Surapong said PPP would follow the style of the disbanded Thai Rak Thai, which used short but striking messages to catch voter attention.

PPP has used only two messages in its posters and billboards, he said. One is: "Anyone can say, but only we can do." The other is about the manner in which the PPP would generate revenues, he said.

Korbsak said the Democrats have headlined their messages, "People's Agenda" and "Urgent Operation Plan Doable in 99 Days", in all their campaigns. The party hopes to draw people's attention to what they would get if they voted for the party.

Differing from the two leading parties, Chart Thai has put out details of its policies in its ads to make voters aware of its ideas to improve their lives, Weerasak said. To make room for content, the text font size is not big, he added.

On billboards across the country, Chart Thai has displayed images of its leader Banharn Silapa-archa as a party-list candidate who could turn the entire country into a developed area as he did for his hometown of Suphan Buri, Weerasak said

Only in the southern provinces does the party display images of all 10 party-list candidates instead of only Banharn, because the voters there care about who is challenging the Democrats in their stronghold, Weerasak said

Kasemsan said several parties had put a lot of content into their ads, which he believed would not work because it would confuse the voters.

The Ruam Jai Thai Chat Pattana Party's ads focus on a worst-case scenario due to the current crisis with the message: "My mother says, next year, we won't even be able to afford instant noodles [one of the cheapest foods in the market]".

Kasemsan believes voters will catch the subtle and dramatic message that his party's policies could prevent such a disaster.

Pisuth said "happiness" was Puea Pandin Party's promise to the people. All the roadside billboards set up by the party emphasise the happiness the country would experience if Puea Pandin formed the next government.

The party's commitments include good living, health, knowledge and family, he said.

Amid mounting tensions and unstable politics, the leading parties also realise the people's desire to see all parties reconcile and make peace. So reconciliation messages also figure at the top of their agenda.

Surapong said PPP's campaign placed priority on building unity among all parties in society.

"Reconciliation is the message that we have sent to the people," he said.

Surapong believes it does not matter how good a party's policy platforms are because they will not be achievable if people in society are still divided.

The Democrats' Korbsak said his party spoke less about politics and focused instead on policies that would be delivered if it led the new government.

The country had been suffering from a political crisis, so the Democrats do not want to aggravate the situation, he said.

Weerasak said Chart Thai had pushed hard during the campaign to make it clear to voters that it was neutral and not involved in the fierce rivalry between the two leading parties, the PPP and the Democrats.

Kasemsan said society was divided and there was lack of unity. He said his Ruam Jai Thai Chart Pattana Party was non-aligned and open to building an alliance with any party.

Pisuth Dechakaisaya said Puea Pandin was non-aligned and could ally with any party. Its election campaign does not attack any party but instead appeals to all parties in the ongoing conflict to compromise, which will lead to unity, he said.

Political Desk

The Nation