Former Prachatai editor-in-chief Tewarit Maneechai has been accused by the Election Commission of Thailand (ECT) of running in the senate election while ineligible, after it claimed that he does not have 10 years of work experience in journalism.

Tewarit said that the ECT summoned him to hear the accusation on 2 October. He said that he does not mind being investigated, but he has worked at Prachatai since 2012. This information was on his application form and his introduction document, and he said he is surprised that the ECT is accusing him without calling him in to testify.

Tewarit added that he became Prachatai’s editor-in-chief in 2019 and has numerous stories published on the website both with and without a by-line. During his time at Prachatai, he has appeared at the outlet’s public events and has given interviews as a Prachatai journalist, such as after his detention for attitude adjustment in a military barracks after the 2014 coup.

Tewarit speculated that the evidence used to accuse him was from the original introduction form, which only allowed 5 lines of text. He said that this limitation was the result of the ECT’s own system, which has faced public criticism during the election.

In May 2024, Tewarit filed a lawsuit against the ECT for a regulation preventing senate candidates from publicly introducing themselves. The regulation was later repealed.