The Secretary-General of the Election Commission has ordered investigations into all leads of vote-buying and plans to summon "CK Cheong" for information, even though no political party was specified. He revealed that complaints about vote-buying account for less than 10% of all reports. Regarding the 250 million baht issue, the person who withdrew the money is engaged in other businesses, and further investigations are ongoing.
On 4 February 2026, regarding the case Mr. CK Cheong a Thai-Chinese (Macau) businessman and CEO of the Fastwork platform, posted a message claiming that his grandmother received money to buy votes from a certain political party before deleting the post. Mr. Sa-nguan Boonmee, Secretary-General of the Election Commission (EC), gave an interview on the morning news program "Workers' Report Offscreen Talk" today, stating that Regarding Mr. CK’s claim, we did not intend to investigate initially. He said a political party was buying votes. We want to know which party is involved. That is the key point. Whether he is telling the truth is another matter. We must call him in to ask because political parties cannot buy votes, and citizens cannot accept money. This suggests he knows because he obscured the party's name. If the facts confirm the involvement of a political party, they must be held accountable as it is illegal. If it is untrue, we must consider whether he is responsible under the law for making false accusations. That is a separate matter. At this stage, we cannot say anything until we have the facts.
Later at 13:30, Mr. Sa-nguan gave an interview at the EC office about the numerous social media posts reporting vote-buying leads, saying: We must explain the principle first. Anyone providing information about EC errors or election law violations will be summoned for investigation. Every case will be examined to gather information to manage the election to ensure it is honest and fair, and not to slander. From Mr. CK’s message, he alleged a political party is buying votes. Political parties are not allowed to buy votes. We must verify whether vote-buying actually occurred. We must be fair to all parties. Even though no party was named, it is our duty to investigate. We are currently in the process of summoning him for questioning.
“Today, there have been 90 complaints. Over 80% concern defamation via posts, while complaints about vote-buying are less than 10%. As the election day is 3-4 days away, this is a period of heightened vigilance. Regarding the arrest of vote brokers in Surat Thani province, the local EC office has taken proactive steps to investigate possible preparations. Initially, this has been recorded as a factual report, and details will emerge as the investigation proceeds.”
The EC Secretary-General added that regarding the withdrawal of 250 million baht, it is currently under investigation for its origins. Preliminary checks indicate the person withdrawing the money is involved in other businesses unrelated to the election. However, further investigation is needed to determine if there is any connection to the election. Before accusing anyone, fairness must be ensured.