Party Orders Chuwit To Tone Down Speeches

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Party orders Chuwit to tone down speeches

BANGKOK: -- Billionaire Chuwit Kamolvisit has been instructed by Chart Thai leaders to tone down his forceful campaign speeches and avoid making any scathing references to Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra or government policies, a party source said.

Mr Chuwit, who pledged allegiance to Chart Thai after dissolving his First Thai Nation party, is accompanying party heavyweights on a pre-election campaign to the deep South.

His defection, however, hangs in limbo with First Thai Nation members questioning the legitimacy of his disbandment of the party.

They have petitioned the Constitution Court and sought legal grounds to invalidate Mr Chuwit's Chart Thai membership.

The source said Chart Thai leader Banharn Silpa-archa ordered Mr Chuwit's campaign speeches be kept brief. The party has also allotted Mr Chuwit shorter times to speak than other candidates, fearing he might direct sharp rhetoric against the prime minister.

Mr Banharn has told Mr Chuwit to keep any comments on the prime minister or government policies to himself.

Mr Chuwit's campaign posters and billboards could also prove inflammatory. Chart Thai has insisted on screening posters before they are put up. Mr Chuwit, however, was adamant he would maintain his straightforward but maverick canvassing style.

He has already prepared his signature posters, the kind that helped win him more than 300,000 votes in the Aug 29 Bangkok governor election.

He said Bangkok voters were drawn to campaigns that were blunt, forceful and different. He felt Chart Thai's conventional canvassing tactics might not strike the right chord with voters. He would unveil the Chart Thai candidates for all 37 Bangkok constituencies on Dec 8.

Mr Banharn said Mr Chuwit's campaign style and his posters need to be discussed. He made it clear the massage parlour tycoon would have to abide by party rules.

He said Mr Chuwit was free to direct the party's election activities in Bangkok. Chart Thai is expected to win less than 30 seats in the upcoming general election but at least 15 constituency candidates had a good chance of getting elected.

Mr Banharn and Chart Thai stalwarts, meanwhile, arrived in Khok Pho district of Pattani yesterday and trained locals how to plant rice. Mr Banharn who drove a tractor in a training demonstration suggested local people form cooperatives to acquire equipment and the government provide the knowhow.

--The Post 2004-12-04