Ruling-party MPs and supporters are criticizing former Future Forward party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkrit for holding a fundraiser to donate money to the poor.
Thanathorn, who was banned from politics for ten years by the Constitutional Court in a contentious decision, now runs The Progressive Movement, a foundation that is suppose to share and continue the ideas started by the defunct Future Forward Party.
The Progressive Movement held a fundraiser/online concert on their Facebook page over the weekend, promising 3,000 Baht per person to disaffected people who had register for assistance.
The fundraiser managed to raise 7.2 million baht and assist 2,427 people.
However, pro-government voices including Tipanan Sirichana, the Deputy Spokesperson of the Palang Pracharat Party, said that Thanathorn was breaching rules and laws designed to keep money out of politics. The opposition said that Thanathorn was ‘buying votes’ by handing out money to the poor.
Though Future Forward is dissolved and Thanathorn banned, many of the remaining Future Forward MPs have set up a new opposition party Move Forward.
Thanathorn said in a Facebook post after the fund raiser that all the money will be accounted for.
“It saddens me that we are unable to help all the people that came to us for help,” he said.
“We understand the concerns with us handling the money, and we will produce a statement of our transactions after we are done donating the money”.
[Correction: Opposition Party has been corrected to Ruling Party]
