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Candidates implanted with tracking devices

The immense planning that's going into the political campaigns ahead of the election in December isn't necessarily about vote-getting strategy this time around. The parties are more worried about keeping their candidates from bolting to a rival party.

Published on October 22, 2007

Candidates used to have to belong to a party for the 90 days prior to the poll, but the election law - a piece of jelly nailed to the wall - no longer requires that. So the ones with the vote-pulling power can at any time auction off their loyalty to the party with the biggest carrot.

Thai politics used to be about shotgun weddings. Now it's about runaway brides ... or possibly polygamy, we're not sure yet.

We've heard about parties that have come up with various Superglue schemes to hang onto their golden geese, assuming they don't have a Thaksin-sized fortune to drip-feed them.

One idea is to have the candidate sign a loan contract. In return he gets a trunk full of cash to spend on his campaign. The loan contract is made of glass and they use invisible ink, so no one's actually expecting a payback.

Still, the leader of the party in question is reportedly wondering if he should be videotaping the contract signing. Why would a politician trust another politician?

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Candidates implanted with tracking devices

The immense planning that's going into the political campaigns ahead of the election in December isn't necessarily about vote-getting strategy this time around. The parties are more worried about keeping their candidates from bolting to a rival party.

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