Democrats aim at Ratchaburi's 'informed vote'

General News - Tuesday December 11, 2007

Democrats aim at Ratchaburi's 'informed vote'

Hoping to win four Central provinces

SURASAK GLAHAN

Ratchaburi _ Wassana Yamwon runs a small grocery store in a tiny village in Muang district and pays about 1,400 baht in annual taxes. And while she liked Thaksin Shinawatra for what he did for rural people as prime minister, she did not like the way he blatantly helped himself.

''I didn't like what he did for himself by avoiding paying taxes,'' said the 53-year-old widow, who is raising two children on her own.

The tax-free sale last year by Mr Thaksin's family of Shin Corp to Temasek Holdings of Singapore was ''just too much to accept'', she said.

Many of his policies, like the 30-baht healthcare scheme and the village fund, were good, she said, but there were flaws in the implementation.

For example, some people had to travel a long way to a participating hospital, spend almost a day waiting to see a doctor and then have to pay the high cost of nighttime transport home.

''I want a new generation of politicians to try their hand at developing this country,'' she said.

People like Mrs Wassana are the voters the Democrat party's candidates are mainly targeting.

They are people who have broad access to information, who require transparency and honesty from politicians and who cast a ''no vote'' in the voided polls last year as a protest against Mr Thaksin.

Two-time MP Boonmak Sirinawakul, a Democrat candidate for constituency 2, said while he and his fellow candidates aim to reach people in all walks of life, target groups like Mrs Wassana greatly boost the party's hopes to win here.

The Democrats look forward to beating their old rivals, former Thai Rak Thai (TRT) MPs now running under the banner of the new People Power party (PPP) and the Matchimathipataya party.

Five parliamentary seats are at stake in the province's two constituencies.

Mr Boonmak said voter abstention in the elections last year was high in his constituency, defeating one TRT candidate who failed to get the required support to take a seat in the House.

The abstention vote was lower than the votes for TRT candidates in the other four constituencies, but the margin was narrow, ranging from 3,000 to 8,000 votes.

The Democrats' hopes of victory were not out of reach, he said. The party won a high number of votes in the 2005 general election, losing to TRT by only a narrow margin in four constituencies.

With one former TRT MP, Vivat Nitikanchana, and the husband of slain TRT MP Kobkul Nop-amornbodi, Mr Manit, both running with Matchimathipataya, the Democrats feel the contest will be less competitive, since TRT loyalists seem to give their votes to PPP candidates, said Mr Boonmak.

Mr Vivat did not agree. He said voters in Ratchaburi usually vote for individuals rather than political parties, and so he was confident of wining a seat.

PPP candidate Boonlue Prasertsopha, a former TRT MP, said his party expected to win at least two seats in the province. People sometimes asked about Mr Thaksin, and the sympathy they felt towards him for the way he was bullied last year by the coup-makers could result in more votes for the PPP, he said.

Mr Boonmak said the Democrats have marked Ratchaburi as one of four provinces in the Central Plains region where they can claw back victory.

The other three are Kanchanaburi, Samut Sakhon and Phetchaburi.

By : Bangkok Post