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Published on September 1, 2007

The September 19, 2006 coup that toppled the democratically elected and corruption-prone Thaksin government was supposed to pave the way for the cleanup of Thai politics and constitutional reform followed by a free and fair election, which it was hoped would produce an honest and effective civilian government and restore public trust in democratic rule. With only months to go before a general election is held, Thailand's political system has now come full circle. If the flurry of political activity that is taking place right now - in which unprincipled and corrupt politicians are putting themselves back on the market to be auctioned off to the highest bidder - is any indication, we now find ourselves at the beginning of the next vicious cycle.

The valuation of politicians whose loyalties can be bought and sold like commodities is based on their prospects of winning a seat in the House of Representatives in a specific constituency. Owners of existing or newly acquired political parties who aspire to high offices, including, say, the premiership or a Cabinet portfolio, must buy up a given number of MP hopefuls to be taken seriously in this high-stakes game. If this sounds familiar, it's because this kind of thing has always happened in this country.

It was how Thaksin in 2001, at the time a telecom tycoon-turned-politician, managed to lead his Thai Rak Thai Party to a landslide victory only three years after the party was founded. Some described it as a political miracle that had to do with Thaksin's charm and charisma, but the phenomenon could also have been explained in more sordid terms - that his rise was made possible by a series of mergers with and even straight buyouts of other political parties along with the incumbent MPs in their stables.

Unprincipled and corrupt politicians of every stripe flocked to join Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai Party, hoping to get their hands immediately on cash handouts as well as to capitalise on the prospect of riding on Thaksin's coattails to political power and gaining lucrative opportunities to make a quick buck through influence peddling.

That was how Thaksin acquired his virtually unlimited powers of patronage, which continue to be unparalleled. In all likelihood, Thaksin may well do that again by paying "nominees" or "proxies" who have recently formed new parties or taken over existing ones to contest the upcoming election and perhaps even win it for him.

There is no guarantee that the Election Commission and other government authorities will be able to prevent vote-buying and other instances of electoral fraud from happening. The main question now is: will the rural masses, who form the majority of the country's eligible voters, continue to tolerate dirty politics based on the corruption-prone patronage system, which for most of them is the only kind of politics they have ever known?

Dirty politics in rural areas allows corrupt politicians to manipulate and control voters either through outright bribery or the dispensation of favours in the form of populist policies through an irresponsible and unprincipled use of taxpayers' money to finance wasteful government programmes, such as cash handouts and cheap loans.

The greatest challenge for Thailand as an aspiring democratic society is determining how to persuade rural folk to abandon money politics and embrace a cleaner form of politics, in which participants make rational choices as to who should govern them based on virtues such as honesty, effective leadership, respect for the rule of law, adherence to good governance and a dedication to the public good.

All this will take time. In the meantime, the least the Election Commission and government authorities responsible for organising the upcoming election can do is to make the best effort to ensure a level playing field for all parties by minimising the influence of money politics as a key determinant of election outcomes.

The EC and the Thai government will need all the help they can get. We see no reason why the European Union should not be asked to help monitor the upcoming election, provided that a memorandum of understanding is drawn up to the satisfaction of both sides stating that such a mission would be based on mutual respect between the EU and the Thai government and a common desire to see democracy fully restored and thriving so that Thailand may rejoin the international community as a respectable and truly democratic nation.