“There are bad senators who accept money in exchange for votes, but good senators outnumber them, and everyone should think about the Senate’s reputation before speaking,” Senator Surachai Danaitang-trakul said.

Last Thursday Senator Pichet Pata-nachote revealed in the Senate that about 60 senators received monetary subsidies from politicians in the Thai Rak Thai Party.

The monthly payment to each senator ranges from Bt50,000 to Bt100,000, he said.

Pichet’s statement spawned further revelations as rival senators blamed one another.

Echoing Pichet, Auditor-General Khun-ying Jaruvan Maintaka, a respected graft-buster, said on Wednesday she had heard some senators had been paid to block her appointment.

Surachai said buying votes was nothing new to the Senate. “Rival senators, be they proponents or opponents of the government, have their orders on how to vote, and they all receive money directly or indirectly,” he said.