By-election result in north-east Thailand boosts opposition

Bangkok - Thai opposition party Puea Thai won another by-election in north-east Thailand, demonstrating the popularity of fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in the impoverished region, election officials said Monday. Puea Thai candidate Surachart Charnpradit won 124,327 votes against Chart Thai Pattana candidate Sakulthip Angkasakullkiat's 76,435 votes, in the Si Sa Ket province election Sunday, according to the Election Commission's unofficial tally Monday morning. It was the second parliamentary by-election victory this month for the Puea Thai opposition party, which is led by the former prime minister who was ousted by a coup in September 2006. On June 21, the Puea Thai candidate won a landslide victory over its rival Bhumjaithai Party candidate in Sakhon Nakhorn province, also in north-east Thailand. Both Chart Thai Pattana and Bhumjaithai are members of the coalition government led by the Democrat Party of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. Si Sa Ket and Sakhon Nakhorn provinces were past strongholds of the Thai Rak Thai party, led by Thaksin, that dominated Thai politics during his two-term premiership between 2001-06. 'The by-election results show that the Thaksin phenomenon is alive and well, despite the setbacks of the April riots,' said Thitinan Phongsudhirak, a political analyst at Chulalongkorn University. In April, Thaksin supporters disrupted a regional summit of South-East Asian leaders in Pattaya, Thailand, forcing Abhisit to cancel the event. They then took their anti-government demonstration to Bangkok where street riots led to an army crackdown. Thaksin, living in self-exile since August last year, was blamed for inciting his supporters to violent unrest, damaging the country's fragile stability and undermining its international image. Despite the arrest of several protest leaders, the movement staged a rally in support of Thaksin in Bangkok on Saturday, drawing an estimated 28,000 followers who called for a royal amnesty for the former premier, who faces a two-year jail term for abuse of power. Although Thaksin has been banned from Thai politics and lives in self-exile, he is the main backer of the Puea Thai, and the party's by-election victories are regarded as his own. The billionaire former telecommunications tycoon used populist policies to win the loyalty of Thailand's north-east constituencies, which remain loyal to him. With more than half of Thailand's population residing in the north-east, also called Isaan, a new election would probably bring Puea Thai, and its main financial supporter Thaksin, to power. 'The Sakhon Nakhorn and Si Sa Ket outcomes are not good omens for the Democrats,' Thitinan said.