Somboon Thongburan, the outgoing senator from the northeastern province of Yasothon, was once jailed for six months for staging a farmers' rally in his home province.

"Back in 1990, I was leading a group of farmers to protest against the Chatichai [Choonhavan] government for failing to help those whose farm land was flooded by the construction of a dam in Huay Sapaeng," Somboon recalls.

"Then the government was overthrown in a coup d'etat led by

General Suchinda Kraprayoon. Afterwards, martial law was imposed and all demonstrations were banned.

"Together with about 40 farmers, I was put in jail for continuing the rally."

The caretaker senator, who regards himself as a non-partisan member of the Upper House, made headlines recently by revealing that a large number of the 200 senators have been on the payroll of a political party for the past five years. They were given additional money of the value of a brand new pickup truck when there was a vote on a special assignment, such as selecting members of independent bodies.

"In the first year the Senate was fine, as things were quite transparent. But the following five years were completely regrettable, as external forces were exerted to influence voting, especially on the selection and confirmation of members of independent bodies such as the National Counter Corruption Commission," Somboon says.

"I believe that about 80 of the 200 outgoing senators have been on the payroll, with each receiving a monthly amount of Bt50,000.

"In addition, each would be given a brand-new pickup truck or equivalent cash of about Bt500,000-Bt600,000 for voting on each of the special assignments.

"To ensure a victory, the sponsors would pay about Bt40 million each time on top of the regular monthly payment to about 80 selected senators to get the majority vote, which usually turned out to be about 80 to 120 senators," he says.

While Somboon isn't the first senator to have exposed alleged corruption in the upper house, he is the first to have detailed both regular and special payments by the sponsoring political party.

Prior to this, several other non-partisan senators such as Chirmsak Pinthong and Pratin Santiprapop said that the checks-and-balances mechanism as laid down in the Constitution was failing because the majority of senators did not have integrity while screening and endorsing candidates for seats on independent watchdog bodies.

Besides cash payments, Somboon says many senators are under the influence of the political party because their relatives' careers or businesses could be affected if they did not vote to favour the government.

"It was well known among senators who also have family businesses that their voting record would be checked to see if they were for the government. If not, the taxmen would be around the corner.

"In addition, the party also has influence over many outgoing senators who are looking for new jobs. Popular choices include president of a provincial administrative organisation or a directorship in state enterprises. Those who are with the party will be backed to get such jobs.

"Given all these factors, I think the senatorial election is not quite useful to the public. We may be better off by doing away with the current election system for senators," he says.

Once his senatorial duties are completed, Somboon, who has law and political science degrees from Ramkhamhaeng and Turakij Pundit universities, plans to work for civic organisations promoting people's participation in democratic governance.

"More Thais need to be more politically active and conscious, or else our democracy cannot grow in a sustainable way," he says.

Nophakhun Limsamarnphun

nop1122@yahoo.com