Election Commission member Sodsri Satayathum Sodsri was among those surprised. Sodsri was a classmate of Thanaboon at Chulalongkorn University, where they studied political science. She had wondered why he'd not been at work.

The Supreme Court on February 8 upheld a lower court ruling in which Thanaboon got 40 months in jail for writing 14 "dud" cheques totalling Bt4 million to the Friends of Seri Foundation chaired by Seripisut Temiyavej.

Thanaboon, whose construction business was losing money, borrowed money from the foundation in Sept 1996. He has been in jail since Feb 8.

Seripisut agreed to the loan and accepted 14 Bt300,000 cheques dated the first of every month as repayment. But Thanaboon's banks returned them unpaid. Seripisut sued Thanaboon when he refused to settle the outstanding debt. He was acquitted by the Criminal Court but convicted on appeal. Thanaboon appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing the loan agreement violated the foundation's objectives and regulations. He accused Seripisut of charging 18percent annual interest - above Bank of Thailand limits. - The Nation