Supreme Court red-cards Yongyuth

The Supreme Court's verdict, which stood by the EC's ruling, effectively strips Yongyuth from his MP status and bars him from politics for five years.

Yongyuth's sister, La-ong, was also affected by the Supreme Court ruling, which nullified her MP seat in Chiang Rai's Constituency 3.

The EC will prepare to form a panel to investigate whether there were any links between Yongyuth's election fraud and the PPP. If evidence is found, the party will go on trial in the Constitution Court, with dissolution a possible outcome.

Yongyuth and La-ong did not attend the Supreme Court to hear the verdict. PPP deputy leader Karn Thienkaew and Yongyuth's legal team represented them. About 100 protesters, including political activist Waranchai Chokchana as the "Anti-People's Alliance for Democracy" group, shouted rude words towards the court in protest at the verdict.

The court said in its ruling there were grounds to believe Yongyuth gave money to kamnans as alleged. Witnesses admitted that the 10 kamnans from Chiang Rai province came to see Yongyuth in Bangkok as alleged by Wichit Yodsuwan, an MP candidate from the Chart Thai Party.

Besides the video recording, other witnesses and investigators confirmed the meeting.

Yongyuth's argument that he discussed a debt unpaid by a local officer with the kamnans was not sound, the court said. The debt was due a long time ago, and there was no reason to rush the matter in the run-up to an election after an election decree was in effect. Moreover, another kamnan who was also a debtor of the official, as well as a brother of a Chart Thai Party candidate, was not invited to meet Yongyuth. Therefore, the court believed the topic of the discussion was politics.

Although there was no evidence the kamnans canvassed votes for Yongyuth, the kamnans were in a position to influence voters' decisions.