Caravan leader faces pickup row
Caravan of the Poor leader Sa-ing Ta-ngaisin has denied allegations she cheated other caravan members out of their "pay" to buy a new pickup.
The allegations began soon after Sa-ing returned to her hometown in Roi Et last month, after the caravan stopped rallying in support of caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in Bangkok.Sa-ing startled her neighbours by buying a brand new pickup soon after returning to her village. Some said she must have received a windfall from the rally, but Sa-ing insisted the money came from a mine business she had invested in with partners. Her pickup cost Bt520,000 and she paid Bt220,000 while a friend named "Prasit" paid Bt300,000, she said. "I want to tell these suspicious people I bought the pickup with my own money, not with wages from the rally," she said. "Who will pay a lot of money to hire me to join the rally? No one in the Caravan received money from the rally," she insisted. Sa-ing said she joined the Caravan of the Poor to show support for Thaksin not to receive a wage. When asked about allegations that she had cheated other caravan members out of money, she said it was not her job to pay out wages to other caravan members. Sa-ing's neighbour Niphon Thanpadung said he received Bt10,000 to participate in the rallies - but was supposed to get more. According to the "deal" he was to receive Bt20,000, but a caravan leader paid him only Bt10,000, he said. The payment was "not worth my work", Niphon said. He had be away from home 20 days in order to join the caravan, but if he had stayed at home he would have earned about Bt40,000 from his business, he said. Another caravan member in Roi Et said he and other members were cheated by a caravan leader. "I am ashamed in front of my neighbours because they know I did it for money and no other reason," the man said. The Nation Roi Et
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