Rewards to be offered to fight vote buying

Pending the issuing of new regulations, informants might get a percentage from a fine ranging from Bt20,000 to Bt200,000 imposed on vote buyers.

The master plan, mapped out by the committee chaired by Sonthi, comprise two key strategies - one to encourage voters to cast ballots and the other to raise awareness against vote buying.

To promote the voting, the Sonthi committee will follow four guidelines - use the royal advice as guidance, raise awareness on democratic principles, encourage the casting of votes and ask voters to pick good and capable individuals to run the country.

For the fight against vote buying, the committee will focus on two guidelines - support existing measures laid down by the Election Commission and encourage civil servants to be impartial to campaigning activities and candidates.

The committee resolved to set up three subcommittees to implement the master plan.

The first subcommittee is responsible for the publicity campaign on voting. The second subcommittee will focus on coordination for the overall implementation of the plan and the third subcommittee is in charge of promoting the democratic principles.

The committee and its three subcommittees will work to enhance but not to interfere with the EC. The main slogan to promote the December 23 election is "Good people don't sell votes".

The Nation