Youngsters at the anti-Thaksin rally outside Government House help to mop up after heavy rains yesterday.

Democrat Party secretary-general Suthep Thaugsuban yesterday accused three senior Thai Rak Thai officials of cheating in a nationwide scheme in the run-up to the April 2 general election.

Suthep held a press conference accusing the three of orchestrating, threatening and paying money in attempt to manipulate the election results.

He alleged the three conspired to subvert the democratic system by hiring small parties to field candidates in constituencies in which Thai Rak Thai might not get 20 per cent of the total eligible votes. They spent from Bt100,000 to Bt3 million for each candidate, Suthep said.

Those who were considered "decorative candidates" were being paid Bt100,000, while those who had some chance of winning were to get Bt500,000. Those tipped as strong favourites to win were to get Bt3 million. The candidates were in provinces in the North, Central, South and Bangkok.

Suthep said he had incriminating evidence that showed the three ordered, hired and transferred the money just for this purpose. They met at three separate small hotels in Bangkok from March 2 to 9.

PM's Secretary-General Prommin Lertsuridej, also deputy secretary-general of the Thai Rak Thai Party, denied Suthep's allegation. He said the accusations were grave and the party's legal team was considering filing a libel suit.

Suthep alleged the three figures also threatened authorities at every level and independent agencies. He claimed they falsified documents of political parties to register candidates.

Suthep accused some election officials of conspiring with them by hacking into the Election Commission's database. When the commission disqualified the candidates, they concocted evidence to cover up their behaviour.

"I believe if there were not senior figures at the Election Commission involved, then it must be that these election officials were very bold indeed. But I am not going to reveal their names because they may be used as scapegoats,'' he said.

Suthep challenged the Thai Rak Thai Party to file suits against him immediately because he was confident his evidence carried weight. "We can prove this evidence in court before the general election,'' he said.

Suthep said he would submit the evidence to EC chairman Vasana Puemlarp. "The chairman will be shocked when he sees all the evidence. I am not sure about giving all of the evidence because I do not know what is happening to this commission,'' he said.

Suthep said the party was checking to see if the EC was linked to the allegations because it was not easy to hack into its database. "There must be instructions from very high ranking officials. But it is too soon for me to accuse them. I can only hope that the EC is still independent because the evidence that I have shows how 'Thaksinomics' penetrates deep into every fabric of society. This is very scary,'' he said.

He said some officials feared for their lives and had asked the Democrats for protection.

"If we reveal their names, they may not survive to testify in court,'' he said.

Suthep produced plenty of documents to show reporters, saying they contained evidence of cash transfers.