Bangkok senate candidate Rosana Tositrakul tells a press conference yesterday she would not be so foolish as to risk violating election law by posting her biography on a website.

 Rosana Tositrakul will sue a senate candidate who accused her of promoting herself on a website ahead of the April 19 election in which she won enough votes to become a Bangkok representative in the upper chamber.

Rosana told a press conference yesterday that the Election Commission (EC) had yet to tell her why she had not been endorsed as a senator.

An EC sub-committee has accepted a complaint filed by candidate Paruey Chansakul that Rosana had posted her biography on the website of her employer, the Thai Holistic Health Foundation, on April 11 to 14.

Rosana said she had been informed the panel had concluded she was guilty and submitted its report to the EC last Tuesday. She could be banned from contesting an election, lose the right to vote for 10 years, and be jailed or fined Bt20,000 to Bt200,000.

Rosana said she would file a suit at the Criminal Court at 10am tomorrow accusing Paruey of submitting false evidence.

Rosana, the secretary-general of the foundation, said the date the information was posted on the website could be verified as the webmaster records what he uploads and when.

Posting her biography on a website risked violating election law and she was not foolish enough to try, Rosana said. The sub-committee should have conducted an investigation rather than just listening to Maruey, Rosana said, calling on the EC to seriously investigate her case.

"Dirty tactics have been used to disqualify many candidates. I have heard the EC planned to disqualify candidates who criticise the government. However, they should have proper evidence, information and reason to disqualify a candidate. If they judge unfairly, I will certainly complain to the court," she said.

She would continue fighting to protect her rights as well as those of voters, she said.

Weerapong Kriengsinyos, manager of the foundation, said when he testified to the sub-committee he found that two of its three members had no documents about the complaint. They also said they had not viewed the website, he said.

He would submit written evidence from the webmaster confirming Rosana's biography was not on the website at the time, Weerapong said.

Meanwhile, Ritluecha Kumpreawpan, a Bangkok senate candidate and movie star known as "Rit Luecha", said he had filed a complaint against winning candidate Klanarong Chantik at Lumpini Police Station shortly before the election, after his child accidentally found Klanarong introducing himself on a website.

"I don't have a personal problem with [Klanarong], but I think it wasn't fair to me as a candidate," Ritluecha said.

Klanarong said yesterday he had not been informed about the complaint and had not been told why he had not been endorsed yet.

Four of five winning candidates from Bangkok - Nitipoom Nawarat, Boonyord Sooktinthai, Klanarong and Rosana - have reportedly been the subject of complaints for appearing at anti-government rallies organised by the People's Alliance for Democracy. Senatorial candidates are banned from campaigning. The four have yet to be endorsed by the EC.

Rosana held the press conference at the Thai Holistic Health Foundation with Weerapong and human-rights lawyer Chairat Sangarun from the Lawyers' Council of Thailand.

Sathien Viriyapanpongsa

Kornchanok Raksaseri

The Nation