So 200 Baht Bought Your Vote Today In My Girlfriends Village

[ericthai]

She got ripped off, Wife got 600 here, 500 from one group, 100B from another group, she took the money but still voted for the guy she wanted, who didnt win. She said free money they are wrong for paying so i will be wrong and vote the way I want and take their money, they are stupid to give it away. Might be a problem if someone finds out she didn't vote, but good for her.

[Tafia]

Wife received nothing here in Nong Kham only the message 'its time for change'

[SantiSuk]

We live in Issaan and my wife tells me she was not offered money. I think she's goho, since I tutored her to give a stern lecture to anyone who tried and all my mates wives and girlfriends in various electoral districts got their election day money .

The only way they will get rid of this corruption is to give 10,000 baht rewards to anyone who gets someone convicted of handouts. They could couple this with a 200 tax break (or handout?) to those who vote, which could gradually erode over time. The latter sounds daft I know, but how else can you break this vicious circle, other than by weaning people off handouts

[dinger]

This is great. I made an almost identical post on a different thread here on TV last night. Got flamed and called a liar. This is exactely what happened in our village, except it was 300b and 100b

She got ripped off, Wife got 600 here, 500 from one group, 100B from another group, she took the money but still voted for the guy she wanted, who didnt win. She said free money they are wrong for paying so i will be wrong and vote the way I want and take their money, they are stupid to give it away. Might be a problem if someone finds out she didn't vote, but good for her.

Edited July 4, 2011 by dinger

[Spoonman]

Not calling you a liar because vote buying is rampant everywhere and by ALL parties in thailand, but NOBODY gives out money on the day of the election, its all done before election day.

Really, my missus caught the bus home Saturday night so that she could collect yesterday, bus cost me more than the 500b she got..............go figure.

[toffo9]

Not calling you a liar because vote buying is rampant everywhere and by ALL parties in thailand, but NOBODY gives out money on the day of the election, its all done before election day.

Really, my missus caught the bus home Saturday night so that she could collect yesterday, bus cost me more than the 500b she got..............go figure.

lol spoonman

[billd766]

I don't know why you guys are bitching about it.

NOBODY gave my wife or her friends anything AND I had to buy my own whiskey and soda.

For the record they all voted PT except one friends daughter who voted for the Dems.

[dinger]

Don't know what to say other than a friend dropped by last night and said she had been given 200b, yesterday, Sunday July 3, 2011 at approx. 2pm. But more than likely she just came over to my house to lie to me.

Not calling you a liar because vote buying is rampant everywhere and by ALL parties in thailand, but NOBODY gives out money on the day of the election, its all done before election day.

Really, my missus caught the bus home Saturday night so that she could collect yesterday, bus cost me more than the 500b she got..............go figure.

[Spoonman]

Don't know what to say other than a friend dropped by last night and said she had been given 200b, yesterday, Sunday July 3, 2011 at approx. 2pm. But more than likely she just came over to my house to lie to me.

Not calling you a liar because vote buying is rampant everywhere and by ALL parties in thailand, but NOBODY gives out money on the day of the election, its all done before election day.

Really, my missus caught the bus home Saturday night so that she could collect yesterday, bus cost me more than the 500b she got..............go figure.

Should have told her to buy you a beer to prove her sudden wealth.

[dinger]

I thought about that, but remember you can't buy beer on election day, it's not allowed

Don't know what to say other than a friend dropped by last night and said she had been given 200b, yesterday, Sunday July 3, 2011 at approx. 2pm. But more than likely she just came over to my house to lie to me.

Not calling you a liar because vote buying is rampant everywhere and by ALL parties in thailand, but NOBODY gives out money on the day of the election, its all done before election day.

Really, my missus caught the bus home Saturday night so that she could collect yesterday, bus cost me more than the 500b she got..............go figure.

Should have told her to buy you a beer to prove her sudden wealth.

[isanbirder]

It strikes me that anyone offering under 500 for a vote is wasting their money. Who is going to sell a vote for 200 or 300? Let alone return back to the Isan village from Bangkok to do so.

I've always heard (without evidence) that the going rate was 1000... and I saw one report this election that one candidate in a closely-fought constituency was offering 1700.

If there is no way of proving that the person 'endowed' with the money voted for the donor, what is the point of giving it? Sort of general goodwill? Seems strange to me.

[cardholder]

It strikes me that anyone offering under 500 for a vote is wasting their money. Who is going to sell a vote for 200 or 300? Let alone return back to the Isan village from Bangkok to do so.

I've always heard (without evidence) that the going rate was 1000... and I saw one report this election that one candidate in a closely-fought constituency was offering 1700.

If there is no way of proving that the person 'endowed' with the money voted for the donor, what is the point of giving it? Sort of general goodwill? Seems strange to me.

No point at all - it is just common practice.

It has back-fired in a number of ways - including a number of expected red cards.

[bobo42]

No money on offer in my wife's amphur this time around. Her family had somebody dutifully waiting at the house at all times, waiting for the usual election visitors, but none to be seen. They even made inquiries to the neighbours, and came up empty. Apparently, in my wife's home city, your vote is actually a secret, so you can just take the cash from the highest bidder, and then just vote however you were going to vote anyway. From all accounts from the family, this is the norm, and they were all looking forward to getting their little bonus for this election, they were a bit irritated that nobody offered up any cash.

Perhaps in other places the vote is not secret, and you are obligated to vote for somebody who pays you a few hundred baht - but when I took the wife and family to vote yesterday, there was no funny business to be seen at the polling place, looked orderly and secure to me (and by all accounts, it always is). My sister-in-law was paid a small wage to be one of the election "overseers" (I'm not sure what the actual job-title was), so she was working at another polling place, and she said everything she could see was on-the-level. At least from our small town, all appearances were of a proper vote.

I am not doubting other reports, and I'm not saying that offering money for votes (even if it is unverifiable) is "the right" way to do things, I'm simply adding my own experience to the mix. To me, everything seemed quite orderly and professional, and I was quite pleasantly surprised to see it as such.

[bino]

It has back-fired in a number of ways - including a number of expected red cards.

Will be interesting to see how many red cards are issued this time!

[rgs2001uk]

No money on offer in my wife's amphur this time around. Her family had somebody dutifully waiting at the house at all times, waiting for the usual election visitors, but none to be seen. They even made inquiries to the neighbours, and came up empty. Apparently, in my wife's home city, your vote is actually a secret, so you can just take the cash from the highest bidder, and then just vote however you were going to vote anyway. From all accounts from the family, this is the norm, and they were all looking forward to getting their little bonus for this election, they were a bit irritated that nobody offered up any cash.

Perhaps in other places the vote is not secret, and you are obligated to vote for somebody who pays you a few hundred baht - but when I took the wife and family to vote yesterday, there was no funny business to be seen at the polling place, looked orderly and secure to me (and by all accounts, it always is). My sister-in-law was paid a small wage to be one of the election "overseers" (I'm not sure what the actual job-title was), so she was working at another polling place, and she said everything she could see was on-the-level. At least from our small town, all appearances were of a proper vote.

I am not doubting other reports, and I'm not saying that offering money for votes (even if it is unverifiable) is "the right" way to do things, I'm simply adding my own experience to the mix. To me, everything seemed quite orderly and professional, and I was quite pleasantly surprised to see it as such.

bobo,

my mrs was paid 500 baht yesterday to be one of the officials you refer to, no point in writing it in Thai, the English transliteration would be,

tua taen paak gan muang,

the above was written in Thai on her name tag, as well as another small badge she was wearing to identify her staus.