Opposition set to win Bangkok governor race again

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-10-05 15:50

BANGKOK - Bangkok voted for a new governor on Sunday, with the candidate from the main national opposition party looking set to see off 15 rivals to win re-election.

Polls suggest incumbent Governor Apirak Kosayodhin from the Democrat Party is virtually assured victory given his party's popularity in the sprawling capital.

His nearest rivals are Australian-trained economist Kriengsak Charoenwongsak and Chuvit Kamolvisit, a massage parlour tycoon fighting on an anti-corruption ticket.

Apirak, 47, has pledged to improve the environment and quality of life in the city of 10 million, focusing on traffic, infrastructure and education.

The People Power Party, which leads the national coalition government, is represented by Prapat Chongsanguan, 53, a former chief of the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand.

Unofficial results are expected early on Monday.

Apirak, deputy leader of the Democrat Party, Thailand's oldest and the sole opposition party in the House of Representatives, won around 911,000 votes out of the 2.4 million cast in 2004.

The race to manage Thailand's biggest city has been a gimmicky affair, with one candidate campaigning dressed as a Shanghai gangster.

Chuvit made headlines this week for beating up a television interviewer he didn't like, and another candidate's campaign manager drowned while washing in a filthy canal as a publicity stunt to highlight the need for better sanitation.