Vote-buying was rampant on the eve of Sunday's general election, according to the Open Forum for Democracy Foundation (P-Net), a non-governmental organisation focusing on strengthening democracy and electoral processes.

Ladawan Tantiwitthaypitak, a P-net executive, said several parties still resorted to rampant "money politics" to bribe voters. She also said there were cases of vote buying in the final leg of the election campaign, though not in an overt manner.

She said people were paid to attend campaign rallies, each receiving 200 baht to turn up while a driver who took them to the rallies got 500 baht. The banknotes were held by rubber bands under meal boxes given to each rally participant, she said.

Ms Ladawan said its network of election watchdogs also took pictures of many piles of 100-baht banknotes believed to have been used for vote-buying.

The information has been sent to the Election Commission to take action against election law violators, she said.