Ex-governor holds lead as votes are counted

BANGKOK, March 3 (TNA) - Ex-governor Mom Rajawongse Sukhumbhand Paribatra holds a lead over his main rival Police General Pongsapat Pongcharoen in the Bangkok gubernatorial race with some 73 percent of the vote counted in all 50 districts in the capital. The ballots closed at 3 pm Sunday and all election commissioners commenced the vote counting shortly afterward. As of 6.00 pm, Mom Rajawongse Sukhumbhand had percent 44 percent of the vote versus 37 percent for Police General Pongsapat with vote difference of 128,000 between the two candidates. A total of 1,771,961 of eligible voters turned out to cast their vote, or 68.66 percent, according to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) (TNA)