By 14 July, wild claims were being made that 400 political aspirants, including 120 members of the previous parliament, were seeking to run under the Chart Pattana banner. Yet the politicians that swarmed to the "new" party were mainly from the old "satanic" parties, and political commentators saw them as "chips from the same old block", with the party being an off-spring STP"Satanic" or not, these ex-MPs brought with them their own financial backing, and CPP planned to spend Bt500 million on the elections. Large commercial companies also lent their support, and it was reported that, by mid-July, the party had over Bt700 million in its campaign coffers. So strong did the party appear to be that even the "pure" Chamlong indicated that his party would be prepared to enter into a coalition with Chart Pattana as long as no cabinet posts were given to the "unusually wealthy".