Analysis: Power of patronage

The fishermen of Klong Dam face an uncertain future

By Simon Ingram in Samut Prakan province

New and strict rules are supposed to have established truly democratic conditions for Thailand's parliamentary election.

But in places like Samut Prakan, a coastal province south of Bangkok, its old-fashioned forces of patronage, feudalism and cold intimidation seem certain to influence the outcome once again.

The fishermen of Klong Dam, a small village near the mouth of the Chao Phraya river, can testify to that.

There is much at stake for them in the election because it may be their last chance to halt a huge and highly controversial waste water project which they say will destroy their livelihoods.

Fish stocks

Hunched over crumpled navigational charts, local activists Dawan Jantarahasdi and Sang Bantap explain how effluent from the waste water plant - which is already close to completion - will kill off the plankton and shrimp on which fish stocks in this northern part of the Gulf of Thailand depend.

Sang Bantap: Worried about the fish stocks

"It's the local politicians who want this scheme, not the people," said Sang Bantap.

The politicians in question belong to the powerful Asavahane family which for years has dictated political life in Samut Prakan.

The family also owns the land on which the waste water plant is being built and stand to make huge profits provided the project goes ahead.

The Asavahane operate what is in effect the family's own political party: Rassadorn, or The People Party. It held five of the province's six seats in the old parliament.

Stopping the waste water project depends on voting these people out of office. But the chances of that seem slender.

All over Samut Prakan blue Rasadorn election posters are much in evidence. Trucks mounted with loudspeakers ply the roads, blaring out the Rasadorn party jingle. But the party's campaign tactics have not stopped there.

Carrying weapons

It is widely suspected that in the run-up to voting day, voter registration lists have been tampered with, adding the names of people from outside the province in order to help Rasadorn candidates win constituencies where the party feels its control is threatened.

There have been reports of intimidation too. Election observers have found it almost impossible to work in the province. Some have resorted to carrying weapons to defend themselves.

Opposing parties have made their presence felt

On the main road to Klong Dan, several posters belonging to Rasadorn's main rival, the Thai Rak Thai party, have been defaced - a visible sign perhaps of the political intimidation - and violence - that lurks beneath the surface here.

At the headquarters of the local Election Commission, the official in charge, Pisit Sukarat, admits that there have been serious problems in Samut Prakan during the campaign. In one case, a candidate from the Chat Patana party was disqualified from the contest.

"We've taken every precaution to ensure that there's no repeat of the trouble last year," Mr Pisit told the BBC.

That was the occasion when, during municipal elections, a gang of men burst into a polling station and began stuffing voting slips into election boxes. Policemen on duty did not intervene.

Disorder

Other observers are less sanguine. "Anything could happen in Samut Prakan," said Sunai Phasuk of Pollwatch Network.

"The competition there is very fierce. When the polls close on Saturday evening, if one of the major candidates in the area they realise will not win in a particular constituency, they might create disorder so as to disrupt the polling process."

Efforts to question Rassadorn party officials about these complaints were unsuccessful.

At the party's headquarters, a receptionist said there was no-one to answer questions, even though the reception area was crowded with party canvassers.

Back on the waterfront at Klong Dan, things look ominous. Sang Bantap says the fishermen's only hope is a Thai Rak Thai victory.

"If Rasadorn is elected, and the waste water plant is completed, I don't see that there'd be anything left for the fishermen here," he said.

Split

According to Sunai Phasuk, the situation in Samut Prakan is far from unusual.

"There are many Thai provinces where political life - from local to national level - is controlled by a single family."

But he says things don't always work out as these families intended.

"Sometimes more distant relatives split off from their party and join that of a rival. Then it becomes a war within the family, and it makes it more exciting to observe," he said.