BANGKOK — An MP contender for the Pheu Thai Party said Thursday she was unfairly targeted by police who took action against her campaign truck for being illegally modified.
Leelawadee Watcharobol, who’s running to represent part of Bangkok’s old quarter, said officers from the Samsen Police Station stopped her truck yesterday as she was canvassing Samsen Road. The former MP said police had never before taken offense at campaign trucks in her career.
“This kind of thing never happened,” she told reporters today. “I see this issue as discriminatory. I don’t want police to be anyone’s tool during [the election season].”
Leelawadee, who was elected to represent the Dusit area in 2011, said her party would file a harassment complaint with the Election Commission because campaign trucks of other parties have not been fined by police.
“If our party is punished, all parties should be punished, too,” the politician said.
The Pheu Thai caravan was stopped in front of St. Gabriel’s College on Wednesday and fined 2,000 baht for adding loudspeakers and ramps to the truck.
A Samsen police traffic cop said the ticket was issued because the truck was modified without permission from Land Transport Department.
“It was not about discrimination,” Lt. Col. Nanthapol Damnin told reporters, adding that Leelawadee’s team was also fined for driving on a bus lane, along with other motorists on that day.
