The Supreme Court's election division ruled to revoke the election candidacy rights of "Dr. Kes - Keskamon Pliensamai" for 10 years due to fraudulent use of the "Professor" title in registering for the 2024 Senate election.
At 14:00 on 4 Mar 2026 GMT+7, the Supreme Court's election division scheduled the verdict reading for case number LTO SW 11/2568, involving the Election Commission as complainant and Ms. Keskamon Pliensamai, or Dr. Kes, as respondent. The case concerned the Constitution-implementing Act on the Acquisition of Senate Membership, requesting revocation of candidacy or voting rights due to Ms. Pliensamai's use of the title "Professor" despite not holding that position legally in Thailand when registering for the Senate election.
The Supreme Court's election division examined the case and found the facts as follows: Following the 2024 Royal Decree for Senate elections, the respondent registered as a candidate in the 19th group, representing professionals or similar occupations. In the candidate introduction form (SW 3), the respondent indicated her educational background as "Professor of Human Resource Development" and included work experience in the relevant occupational group. She stated her work history as “Professor Dr. Keskamon Pliensamai” at the California University FCE. California University FCE is located in the state of California, United States of America.
This institution provides educational credential evaluation services and is accredited by the California State Department of Education and the U.S. federal Department of Education. It specializes in evaluating educational qualifications and awarding diplomas to international students. To date, no individual has submitted qualifications from California University Foreign Credential Evaluation (California University FCE) to Thailand’s Office of the Civil Service Commission for government service equivalency. Appointment procedures for academic positions such as "Professor" within civil service university staff are governed by the Civil Service Act for Higher Education Institutions B.E. 2547 (2004) and its amendments.
For faculty members in private higher education institutions, appointment procedures follow the Private Higher Education Institutions Act B.E. 2546 (2003). The qualifications for appointing professors must comply with the announcement of the Civil Service Commission for Higher Education Institutions regarding criteria and procedures for appointing assistant professors, associate professors, and professors B.E. 2564 (2021), as well as related regulations from the Higher Education Commission. The authority to grant academic titles to personnel employed by higher education institutions lies with the institution’s council, which issues regulations and enforces them according to the Civil Service Act for Higher Education Institutions B.E. 2547 and its amendments.
The respondent's name does not appear in the database of professors maintained by the Civil Service Commission for Higher Education Institutions (CSC) or the Higher Education Commission (HEC). There is no evidence that any higher education institution has requested the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation’s Office to consider royal appointment of the respondent to the professor position.
The issue to be determined is whether the respondent engaged in electoral fraud affecting the Senate election's integrity, violating Section 226 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand and Section 62 of the Constitution-implementing Act on the Acquisition of Senate Membership B.E. 2561 (2018). The work history listed by the respondent refers to current or past duties. By claiming the title "Professor Dr. Keskamon Pliensamai," the respondent must have teaching experience or a prior academic work record.
If the respondent never taught before, she cannot claim to be a professor in the candidate introduction form. Regarding the respondent's claim that the complainant verified her professor qualifications by consulting the complainant’s office about completing the candidate introduction form (SW 3), although the Constitution-implementing Act does not prohibit candidates from listing foreign academic degrees or titles, the respondent is still obliged to provide accurate information and not falsely present work experience or professorial status that would mislead other candidates about her qualifications.
The respondent’s actions constitute fraud by providing false information in her work history or occupational experience section to gain votes. This undermines the election process, which must be conducted honestly, fairly, and equally based on truthful presentation of candidates’ qualifications. Such misconduct defeats the intent of Senate elections, which require candidates to be honest, knowledgeable, skilled, experienced, and professionally diverse to serve effectively in the Senate.
Therefore, the respondent’s conduct constitutes electoral fraud that compromises the honesty and fairness of the Senate election as stipulated in Section 226 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand and Section 62 of the Constitution-implementing Act on the Acquisition of Senate Membership B.E. 2561. The court rules to revoke Ms. Keskamon Pliensamai’s election candidacy rights for 10 years from the date of this judgment.