Thailand: Interview - Phochana Phichitsiri, TRT candidate for Phichit by-election.

(From Thai Press Reports)

Section: Government and Politics - No grace in buying victory: Navin, The Nation reports.

Navin Boonseat, the Thai Rak Thai candidate for Phichit, talks to Phochana Phichitsiri about his chances in this Sunday's by-election.

How confident are you of win-ning the by-election? If there's no rain or vote buying on election day, I am fully confident that I will return as an MP.

How do you explain to your con-stituents about the Election Commission's decision to give you a yellow card because of the evi-dence of vote buying? The only evidence was two witnesses who accused me of vote buying. People in the village know who they are. They clearly belong to the rival camp. But since the Election Commission has made the ruling I accept its decision.

This election race seems to be getting tougher after Mahachon Party leader Sanan Kachornprasart declared almost a "do or die" war and vote-buying allegations have become more rampant.

All sides accuse one another, but since you are here in Phichit, you can ask my constituents if I have ever bought votes. I never have. After all, there is no grace or integrity in buying your way to Parliament.