Some 64% voters turn out for Bangkok governor election

BANGKOK, March 4 (TNA) - The Election Commission of Thailand (EC) reported on Monday that 63.98 per cent of voters in Bangkok turned out to cast their ballots in the March 3 gubernatorial election, the highest record since the Bangkok governor election was first held in the Thai capital in 1975. Prapun Naigowit, an election commissioner supervising electoral administration, told reporters that the 63.98 per cent turnout surpassed the previous high of 62.5 per cent in 2004; while invalid ballots accounted for 1.37 per cent and no-vote ballots for 1.75 per cent. Prapun confirmed that M.R. Sukhumbhand Paribatra of the main opposition Democrat Party was elected to be the 16th Bangkok Governor, his second four-year term, obtaining 1,256,349 votes, the highest-ever for a Bangkok governor, beating the previous record of late Bangkok governor Samak Sundaravej in 2000, and that the election was smooth and fair, representing a good sign of democracy and helping develop election in Bangkok from what it was in the past 20-30 years. According to the election commissioner, the first runner-up, Police General Pongsapat Pongcharoen of the ruling Pheu Thai Party, received 1.07 million votes. Royal Thai Police Office Spokesman Police Major General Piya Uthayo then said that Police General Pongsapat could seek his reinstatement in the position of a deputy national police chief in 30 days after the EC announces the official results of Sunday’s gubernatorial election, expected within a couple of days, as a Cabinet resolution and the Constitution permit immediate reinstatement for government officials who resign for democratic promotion, and that the Royal Thai Police welcomes back Police General Pongsapat. Meanwhile, leading members of the Democrat Party, including the party's leader, Abhisit Vejjajiva, traveled in a caravan to express their a gratitude to the majority voters in Bangkok for casting their votes for M.R. Sukhumbhand, the party's candidate. (TNA)