Election Commission (EC) has announced that the by-election in Constituency 3 of the eastern province of Rayong will be held on September 10. Candidacies must be registered from August 15 to 19^t inclusively.

The by-election is to elect a new MP following the resignation of Move Forward MP Nakornchai Khunnarong on August 3, after it was discovered that he had served 18 months in prison on a theft conviction about 24 years ago.

Pol Gen Sereepisuth Temeeyaves, leader of the Thai Liberal party, one of the eight parties in the now disbanded coalition led by Move Forward, exposed Nakornchai’s criminal record last July, but the EC’s branch office in Rayong had insufficient information about the conviction and decided to approve his candidacy.

Nakornchai said that the theft occurred in October 1999, when he was about 20. He said that he and a friend were arrested and his friend had claimed to have stolen a wristwatch, which he found on a table in their room, adding that he was ordered by the police to confess to the offence, along with his friend.

The former Move Forward MP has vowed to fight the case, which will be filed by the Office of Election Commission for applying for candidacy while being fully aware that he was unqualified to do so. The EC will also demand compensation for the cost of staging the by-election.