Dr. Warong, leader of the Thai Pakdee Party, promotes canceling the 500- and 1,000-baht banknotes as an anti-corruption policy, declaring that corruption over 100 million baht should be punishable by death within 15 days.
26 Dec 2025 GMT+7 Dr. Warong Dejkitvigrom, leader of the Thai Pakdee Party posted a message viaFacebookabout one of the policies to be used in the campaign ahead of the general election for members of the House of Representatives on 8 February 2026. He stated that anti-corruption efforts require several elements, such as the determination of those in power, increasing the death penalty if corruption exceeds 100 million baht with execution within 15 days, no right to royal pardon requests, and empowering citizens to sue directly in court—with rewards if they win.
Another key point is the need to abolish 1,000- and 500-baht banknotes because most unaccounted money is kept in cash form as these banknotes. Bribes and corrupt payments are often made in cash since it's very hard to trace evidence. If payments are made by bank transfer as ordinary citizens do, there will be evidence and a money trail. Payments in assets or condominiums also leave evidence. Even if fake accounts are opened, these accounts are eventually closed and the money withdrawn as cash to be passed up the chain. The bribes reported in the media are all paid in cash.
Dr. Warong further revealed, “Political parties that give money to candidates for the House of Representatives usually use cash. Big politicians' homes often have secret rooms to store cash. In the past, there was a raid on a former director-general of the Department of Highways who had hundreds of crates of 1,000-baht notes stored at home. A key part of fighting corruption is canceling 1,000- and 500-baht banknotes, which won't inconvenience honest people because they can use bank transfers. Elderly people can still use 100-, 50-, and 20-baht notes after the cancellation is announced, for example within three months. People depositing large sums of cash into banks must report the source of the money and pay taxes. Therefore, the Thai Pakdee Party announces the policy to cancel 1,000- and 500-baht banknotes as part of the anti-corruption strategy.”
He also noted that India once canceled 1,000-baht equivalent banknotes but replaced them with new ones, while many cities in China, such as Shanghai, no longer accept cash and require payments through applications only.