‘Massage parlour’candidate popular in Thai campaign

GRAFT-BUSTING “Massage Parlour King” Chuwit Kamolvisit must be the only candidate in Thailand’s election who wants to be in opposition — and prefers being labelled a pimp rather than a politician.

The fiery former massage parlour tycoon who blew the whistle on scores of corrupt police is proving hugely popular with his Rak Prathet Thai (Love Thailand) Party but says he will shun offers to join any government, preferring to be a big-mouthed backbencher on an anti-corruption crusade.

“I have a lot of enemies — before it was policeman and now it’s politicians. They don’t like me because I have a big mouth, but how can I shut up?” 49-year-old Chuwit said.

“I just want to be in parliament. I don’t have any friends in politics, I accept that. If I had friends, I wouldn’t have to form my own party.”

The angry man of Thai politics has brought some much-needed cheer to a gloomy but pivotal Thai election tomorrow and his climbing popularity in opinion polls shows he is no novelty candidate, appealing to voters bored by money politics and under-the-table deals.

Chuwit’s frantic canvassing has stretched from the insurgency-plagued Muslim south to Bangkok’s racy neon-lit go-go dancing bars. Universities, supermarkets and congested intersections are lined with comical campaign posters showing the moustachioed mafia-esque Chuwit pulling angry faces.

Chuwit entered politics in 2003 after a month in prison having been accused of ordering the illegal demolition of dozens of unlicensed bars on a piece of prime Bangkok property he owned.

The police, which he says he had bribed an average of €100,000 a month, refused to protect him, so he went public, releasing the names of the top officers, the sums they were paid, and their frequent visits to his six massage parlours.

“They say I’m a pimp, but I don’t mind. Sometimes I think a pimp and a politician is the same,” said Chuwit.

Opinion polls ahead of tomorrow’s election favour the opposition Puea Thai (For Thais) party led by Yingluck Shinawatra, sister of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, the figurehead of the rural and urban poor “red shirts” whose protests last year ended in a bloody army crackdown.

Recent polls suggest Puea Thai could win at least 240 seats in the 500-seat parliament, but that is no guarantee Yingluck will govern. Most believe that an outright majority by either party is unlikely.