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Bangkok Post
Bangkok Post
National

Pareena undeterred by 'political death penalty'

Then-Palang Pracharath Party MP Pareena Kraikupt in the House during debate on the opposition motion to censure the government on Feb 16, 2021. (Photo: Chanat Katanyu)

Disgraced and now former Palang Pracharath Party MP Pareena Kraikupt said she will continue her political activities, despite the Supreme Court delivering her the "political death penalty".

The Ratchaburi politician posted a Facebook message saying she would soon make a comeback to politics, although not in parliament.

"See me soon. This time outside parliament," she said.

Ms Pareena, who has been a strong defender of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, can no longer stand for political office after a Supreme Court ruling on Thursday banned her from politics for life.

The court punished her for "severely unethical conduct" in her use of state land for a chicken farm in a forest reserve in Chom Bueng district of Ratchaburi, her political base.

She had not lost a political fight in Ratchaburi for almost two decades before the court dealt her a blow on Thursday.

"Pareena was sentenced to the political death penalty, as if I had committed the most serious offence," she wrote, but said she accepted it.

A by-election for her now-vacant electoral seat on constituency 3 must be held within 45 days. The Election Commission has not yet met to set the date.

The criminal case against Ms Pareena over her use of the state land remains with public prosecutors, who have yet to make a decision on indicting her.

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