Thanathorn’s 191-million-baht loan to his party earlier this year for political activities was deemed a donation from an illegal source, the EC said.
The loan is deemed unprecedented as parties typically operate with donations from key members and supporters. Thanathorn, a scion of Thailand’s largest auto parts maker, said the move is meant to do away with his tycoon image by not funding the party himself. “There is nothing that could be deemed illegal, but the decision is in line with our expectation, ” Future Forward’s spokesman Pannika Wanich said, referring to plans by the party’s opponents to seek its dissolution.A petition was filed in July by lawyer Natthaporn Toprayoon, a former adviser to Thailand’s chief ombudsman, accusing the party of seeking to overthrow the constitutional monarchy.
The EC decision comes three weeks after Thanathorn, 41, was disqualified as an elected Member of Parliament by the Constitutional Court over his media share ownership, which was ruled to be in violation of the Constitution.