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Published on October 21, 2007

Yesterday's news of the surprise merger of three small political parties - Pracharaj, Matchima Thippatai and Ruam Jai Thai Chat Pattana - was quickly quashed by one of them.

"This is not the way of the Ruam Jai Thai Chat Pattana Party," its secretary-general Pradit Pattaraprasit told a press conference only hours after the story broke.

"We did declare our policies and anyone wishing to join us is welcome," he said.

The claim by Admiral Bannawit Kaengrian, a National Legislative Assembly member, of representing the party at a supposed meeting of the three parties was also false, he said, adding that Bannawit was not even a member of the party.

"He only has himself to blame for ruining his credibility," he said.

Earlier at 10am the leaders of Pracharaj and Matchima Thippatai did get together.

Pracharaj leader Snoh Thienthong and deputy leader Korn Dabbaransi joined with Matchima Thippatai leader Prachai Leophairatana and other key members of the party. Bannawit was also present.

The little gathering took place at the home of Democrat Party member Kraisak Chonhavan.

Kraisak, an old friend of Korn, said he had gone to see a dentist.

He said there was no special meaning to the venue, which was formerly the house of the late prime minister Chatichai Choonhavan, his father.

Mahachon leader Sanan Kachornprasart was believed to have been invited, but declined. He was quoted as saying politics at the moment was still in a state of flux.

Korn said if the spirit of Chatichai were around, he would have loved to see the three parties combine.

This comes as the pro-Thaksin Shinawatra People Power Party is now seen as having mustered as much voter acceptance as the Democrat Party, if not more.

If the three small parties can meld into a bigger force, it will likely play a crucial role in determining which of the two big parties will form the next government in case the votes are close.

"The three parties have the same ideology and we're ready to hold a dialogue with all parties," Korn said.

Just days ago, Prachai and Snoh were caught in a very public exchange of accusations where Snoh was called a big-time vote-buyer by Prachai, while Prachai, who used to be a petrochemical tycoon, was branded as a political rookie too naïve to succeed in the rough-and-tumble world of electioneering.

A source close to Prachai said the merger would be beneficial to all three parties.

Korn said the leader of this new entity should be identified within 24 hours and a committee has been set up to work it out. He discounted himself as a candidate for the next prime minister, however.

He refused to say whether the planned union was part of a plot for the new party to act as a proxy of the military coup-makers to extend their grip on power beyond the election.

This speculative angle was dismissed by Pracharaj executive Chianchuang Kalayanamitr, who said the only connection was that he had worked for the PR team of the Council for National Security - as the junta is called - but there was nothing more to it.

Korn tried to prevent reporters from asking other staff about the meeting.

Snoh refused to answer reporters' questions after the meeting. The media were told that today, at 11am, there would be another statement made at Snoh's residence.