BY THE WAY: Prime minister and family up with the lark

Published on February 7, 2005

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his family were among the early birds at the polls yesterday morning. They cast their ballots shortly after 9.30am – less than two hours after voting began at 8am – before heading off to Sogo department store for shopping and lunch.

Thaksin appeared in high spirits upon arriving in his BMW sports car to vote at Pimonwit School in Bangkok’s Bang Phlat district, accompanied by his wife and two daughters. His son arrived in a separate vehicle.

The premier told reporters before casting his ballot he expected about 30 million voters, or 70 per cent of those eligible, would exercise their right yesterday.

Thaksin and his children cast their votes at the school. He then drove his wife, Khunying Pojaman, to another polling station at Setsatian School for the Deaf in Dusit district, where she voted.

Democrats dumped

Exit polls yesterday pointed to the Democrat Party winning only one Bangkok seat, with Ong-art Klampaiboon the only likely winner, for Bangkok Noi district’s Constituency 30.

Ong-art commented that while exit polls were normally quite reliable, it was still difficult to predict the actual outcome.

Ong-art had a very simple and relaxing election day while waiting in his Bangkok Noi office to hear the results. He remained calm and positive, spending most of the time in his office relaxing and working on a book he’s writing, without receiving visitors from the television stations.

Ong-art wore a blue-striped shirt when he went to vote at 11.30 at his polling station in Foodland, chatting with some of the locals while there. Then he returned to the Democrat’s Bangkok Noi office.

Smiling and greeting passers-by, Ong-art met with overwhelming support in person and by telephone. “I believe he’ll win the seat. Bangkok Noi residents love him,” said one admirer. Two hours later, Ong-art left his office and walked to a nearby spa for a massage.

Chat Thai’s new image

With her decisive victory for the Chat Thai Party in Bangkok’s Don Muang district yesterday, Janista Liewchalermwong has practically changed “the provincial lion” into a political alternative for the capital.

Although she said she preferred to wait for the final results before commenting, the 32-year-old former TV host and current party spokesperson said that a victory would demonstrate that Chat Thai had transcended its image as a party only for the provinces.

Janista’s chances of being elected increased dramatically last week after Karun Hosakul, her rival from the Thai Rak Thai Party, was disqualified over his educational qualifications.

She said she turned her cell phone off last night and the first thing she did after turning it on in the morning was call her staff to check on the situation in the Don Muang area.

Sam is so at ease

Yesterday was the most harrowing of days for many MP candidates, but not for actor-turned-politician Sam Yuranan Pamornmontri.

“Today I woke up feeling so comfortable. After voting, I came home and spent a stress-free and relaxing day with my family,” said Sam at the Thai Rak Thai office in Bangkok’s Din Daeng constituency.

He cited two main reasons for being so at ease.

The first was The Nation’s voter poll. “Actually, TRT believes in The Nation’s poll because they don’t favour us, so if The Nation’s poll indicates that I will be the winner, that makes me happy.”

The second reason was good planning. Yuranan said his team had a well organised plan and had been working very hard to carry it out for eight months.

“We watched out and made sure that there was no illegal activity around, that’s all for last night,” he said after voting had closed.

Chuwit unfazed

Whether he is elected or not, former massage parlour tycoon Chuwit Kamolvisit said he would prefer to be an opposition MP so he can scrutinise the government’s performance.

Early exit polls and forecasts suggested that Chat Thai’s sixth party-list MP candidate might not get elected as the party looks like claiming only five party-list MP seats.

“This general election is the dirtiest,” Chuwit said yesterday evening as he showed up at the party’s headquarters.

“Last night I received information about many vote-buying practices. Every party paid money for votes today,” he said.

But the fledgling politician said he was not worried that Chat Thai might gain only five seats in the party-list category.

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