Maha Sarakham _ Candidates from the Democrat and Chart Thai parties are making it difficult for Thai Rak Thai in its bid to sweep all seats in the Northeastern province of Maha Sarakham.

Thai Rak Thai hopes to win all six constituencies.

But if it does so, it will have to be the hard way as rival candidates are equally popular, particularly those from the Democrat and Chart Thai parties.

Democrat candidate Yutthapong Charatsathian remains a strong favourite in the province's constituency 3. In constituency 5, veteran politician Prayuth Siripanit of the Chart Thai would be equally tough to beat.

Mr Yutthapong said he was not worried by Thai Rak Thai's popularity as he believed local voters would elect a candidate they believe could protect public interests.

The Democrat reminded voters that during the past four years he had performed honestly as a member of the House committee on commerce and played an important role in helping push up the prices of hom mali rice.

In the past election, he used a door-to-door campaign to introduce himself to locals without relying heavily on canvassers. Despite being a new face, the engineering graduate from Chulalongkorn University gained more than 32,000 votes in his first election.

The Democrat said he was not worried about the Feb 6 race as he had already proven his worth during the past four years. He has continuously visited locals and served as their mouthpiece in parliament, said Mr Yutthapong.

''I am not worried by the Thai Rak Thai fever. What worries me is poll fraud. I've heard that some people had collected ID cards from local voters. The purpose is not yet clear. It has yet to be seen whether there will be any poll cheats during the ballot casting process,'' said Mr Yutthapong.

He said competition was also fierce in his constituency when he was first approached by the Democrat party to run under its banner in 2001. His father, a local leader, was shot dead a year before he plunged into politics.

No suspects have been arrested for his father's murder so far. He insisted the killing stemmed from a political conflict.

A leading Thai Rak Thai figure said yesterday that the party's latest poll survey had showed that the chances of a Democrat win in Maha Sarakham remained zero while the Chart Thai would win one seat.

In constituency 3, a two-horse race was seen between Mr Yutthapong and Thai Rak Thai candidate Suchart Chokchaiwattanakorn. Mahachon candidate Thanapoj Nunpanit was a distant underdog.

One local resident said he would vote for a candidate who he believed cared for local residents and could perform well in parliament. He said Mr Yutthapong met these qualifications.

He admitted the popularity of Thai Rak Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra would greatly influence the vote as the majority of voters wanted Mr Thaksin to serve as prime minister again.

In constituency 5, it should be a close race between Chart Thai candidate Prayuth and Thai Rak Thai's Kusumalwatee Sirikomut .

The veteran Chart Thai politician won all his election races here between 1979 to 2000, but lost to Mrs Kusumalwatee in the last election by 4,000 votes.

The Thai Rak Thai candidate expressed confidence yesterday that she would be re-elected due to her party's rising popularity. Thai Rak Thai has left a good impression on local voters as it was seen having done a good job in tackling drought and helping people affected by the southern tsunami disaster.

Mrs Kusumalwatee won in the last election despite being a new face. She used Thai Rak Thai's populist policies as her selling points to outduel Mr Prayuth, a seven-time MP.