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Thai candidates in close race for Sunday vote
November 15, 1996
Web posted at: 1:45 p.m. EST (1845 GMT)BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- In downtown Bangkok there are more political campaign signs than street signs, a reflection of the fierce race for leadership to be decided by voters on Sunday.
The leading parties have spent millions of dollars on the parliamentary election in an effort to win votes in a race pollsters are saying is too close to call.
More than 2,310 candidates from 13 parties are running for office.
The leading candidates for the top government post are former Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, leader of the Democratic Party and New Aspiration Party (NAP) leader and former Thai Defense Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh.
Each candidate is trying to capture enough seats in parliament to form the next government. No single party has ever won an outright majority in the 393-seat parliament enabling it to form a single party administration.
The issue the candidates have been focusing on is their experience. Chuan tells voters he has experience in running the government and can be trusted to lead, while Chavalit promotes his military experience, telling voters he helped end communist activity in Thailand as a military officer.
Chuan never served in the military, while his opponent has a long military background -- coming up through the ranks to become a general.
But the issue that may interest voters most is the economy which has faltered in recent months with sluggish exports, losses in the stock market and a ballooning current account deficit.
"Chavalit will... not be viewed kindly by the markets," said Graham Catterwell, manager of Deutsche Morgan Grenfell, a major investment firm in Bangkok.
Improving that image is something that Chavalit has worked hard on. He promises to put together what he calls a "dream team" to deal with the economy. But the candidate feels the prime minister needs to be the lead salesman.
As prime minister he says he would travel abroad to court leading business people to bring their assets to Thailand.
But first, the candidates have to convince voters at home that they are best-suited to lead.
Already the election campaign has been marred by violence. Earlier in the campaign, at least seven political workers were killed by gunmen, according to police.
Observers are concerned over reports of corruption. Vote-buying is a widespread practice in Thailand.
According to Pollwatch, an election watchdog group, some candidates have handed out 100-baht ($4) notes redeemable for 200-baht ($8) notes should the candidate win the election.
Bangkok Bureau Chief Tom Mintier andReuters contributed to this report.
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