The Bangkok gubernatorial line-up now has a brand-new candidate, who was only given permission to start campaigning on Friday – just two days before the capital starts voting.
Kraidej Bunnag had been disqualified by the Election Commission for allegedly owning shares in a publication called “Highlight Buntherng”.
Election candidates are prohibited by law from owning a media company.
Kraidej’s disqualification orders came on April 11, just days after the registration of candidates was completed. However, the Central Administration Court issued an injunction on Wednesday, ordering the authorities to let him join the 30 other candidates contesting for the governor’s seat.
Kraidej, candidate No 19 from the Plung Sungkom Mai Party, said on Friday that though he only has two days for campaigning, he will do his best.
“I will continue trying hard because I wish to work for the people,” he told Nation TV, adding that he hopes Bangkok voters will be “kind” to him.
He said that the initial disqualification substantially reduced his campaigning period, “but I have to respect the law”.
As part of his campaign on Friday, he met with a group of Muslim voters at the Islamic Centre of Thailand.
Hollywood superstar Russell Crowe, who loves Thailand so much that he has been dubbed the country’s “tourism ambassador”, had three questions for Bangkok governor candidates ahead of the Sunday election.
The questions were posed in a Channel 7 show titled “22 May: Deciding Bangkok’s Fate”, which was aired on Thursday.
Crowe asked what the candidates would do about the rising level of the Chao Phraya and flooding, the city’s famous jungle of power cables and making the capital more accessible to foreigners.
Each candidate was given two minutes to answer the questions, and only three responded, namely Sita Dhivari, Witthaya Changkoppattana and Phongsa Chunam.
Sita said a drainage system with the capacity of removing 2,600 cubic metres of water per second had been set up to tackle the Chao Phraya overflow. He also vowed to ensure the nine dams that are leaking get properly repaired.
As for Bangkok’s mess of cables, he said residents have been complaining about this for more than 10 years now.
However, putting the powerlines underground will require a lot of money, but the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has a limited budget and more pressing issues that require fixing.
“The BMA will have to spend three times the amount it has been allocated to bury all the cables, so this issue needs to be tackled gradually,” he said. He also said that flooding may also affect the cables buried underground.
As for making Bangkok friendlier to tourists, he said, the only way to do that is to urge the residents to become more fluent in the English language.
He also said that many people have become digital nomads, so Bangkok should become a high-tech, modern and convenient city to attract this crowd, he added.
Meanwhile, Witthaya said little can be done to stop the Chao Phraya from breaking its banks because it is fed by water from three sources: runoffs from the North, rain and the Gulf of Thailand.
As for cables, he too said that putting them underground would require a lot of money, and the best and most thrifty way of tackling this issue will be to tidy up the powerlines.
To make Bangkok more accessible to foreigners, Witthaya said students should be trained to become tour guides and locals should learn English to communicate better with foreigners.
Phongsa, however, offered a high-tech solution to Bangkok flooding, saying a “super computer” will be put in place to predict when the Chao Phraya will flood, so steps can be taken in time.
As for the mess of cables, he said they were a symbol of Bangkok and should be left untouched. Instead, the city should be made greener.
When it comes to making the city more accessible to foreigners, Phongsa said travellers’ safety was the biggest priority. To deal with this, he said, more CCTV cameras will be installed and AI technology used to identify criminal activities.
The New Zealand-born actor was in Thailand from September 18 to October 26 last year to film his latest blockbuster, “The Greatest Beer Run Ever”.
He took to Twitter to post his impressions of Thailand and praised Bangkok for its food, people and culture, drawing appreciation from the public as well as the government.
After leaving Thailand, he tweeted via his personal account (@russellcrowe) saying he missed Bangkok, which is a “beautiful, interesting, exciting place. The people are warm and welcoming”.
Three days before the eighth anniversary of the 2014 coup that he led, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Thursday defended the power seizure, saying it was a necessary evil that had helped a badly divided Thailand stand up on its feet.
“In those days, Thailand was severely polarised, with both sides taking turns to oppose the other [governments]. Such a situation went on for a decade, stalling the country’s process and making Thais unhappy,” he said.
“Thailand became the sick man of Asia. Many of us may have already forgotten that,” the PM said, adding that he was well aware that the post-coup junta, known as the National Council for Peace and Order, would create a perception that the country was not democratic.
He claimed his junta had ensured liberty as best as it could and that he had exercised his special powers as the junta leader only when necessary.
“The justice system and independent organisations could still work independently, without my intervention,” he said.
General Prayut said that the main goal of the power seizure was to restore peace in Thailand and move it forward in order to revive the international community’s confidence in the country.
“You may have noticed that the Thai government later won acceptance from the international community. Our country welcomed more than 40 million visitors from overseas,” he said.
The prime minister was speaking when opening a panel discussion on “Better Thailand, Open Dialogue” held at the Siam Paragon shopping centre.
He mostly read from a prepared statement to a sparse audience. Many of the seats were unoccupied.
On May 22, 2014, Prayut, the then serving commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Army, seized power in a coup, overthrowing an elected government led by premier Yingluck Shinawatra of the Pheu Thai Party. The coup came after months of paralysing street protests and sporadic violence against protesters.
The House of Representatives on Thursday started handing out copies of the fiscal 2023 budget bill to MPs for study before the chamber will deliberate at the end of this month.
Somboon Uthaiwiankul, secretary to the House speaker, said the Budget Bureau had submitted the bill to the chamber on Wednesday and MPs were accordingly informed to get their copies from 2pm on Thursday.
Somboon said House Speaker Chuan Leekpai has scheduled May 31 to June 2 for the first reading of the bill.
On May 26, Chuan will convene a meeting of the ruling coalition and opposition whips to discuss how to allocate debate time among MPs, Somboon added.
On Tuesday, the Cabinet approved the budget bill to allocate THB3.185 trillion for government spending. The projected spending is divided into:
— THB590.47 million for central emergency fund
— THB1.090 billion for fixed expenditures of government agencies
— THB218.477 million for joint projects of inter-governmental agencies
— THB772.119 million for salaries
— THB206.985 million for revolving funds
— THB306.618 million for repayment of debt
Somboon said the budget debate will still be held under universal Covid preventive measures. MPs will be required to take rapid antigen tests before attending the House meeting and they will be required to wear face masks during the debate.
If any MP wants to speak without a face mask, he or she will be required to stand at an isolated spot, the secretary added.
Former Bangkok governor Aswin Kwanmuang unveiled a plan to help the capital tackle floods if he were to be elected.
He made the remarks during an election campaign visit behind Charoenkrung Pracharak Hospital in Bangkok’s Bang Kho Laem district on Wednesday.
“Bangkok has 24 flood-prone areas, of which 15 areas have been improved,” he said.
He pointed out that many areas in Bangkok would be inundated due to heavy rains last night if the 15 areas weren’t improved.
The remaining nine areas, including Lat Phrao and Bang Sue, need to be improved by setting up pipe jacking systems, flood control reservoirs and water banks, he said.
These areas will not face floods once the project is completed, he added.
Aswin also asked people who have received his postcards to read his six sentiments for them. He added that he personally wrote them.
The election for Bangkok governor and councillors will be held on Sunday (May 22).
Hollywood Actor Russell Crowe is being invited to ask questions during Channel 7’s Bangkok governor candidate debate on Thursday.
The candidates have been asked to share their ideas for a better capital and answer questions during the debate before the election takes place on Sunday.
They have already provided their viewpoints to Bangkokians and revealed solutions to problems that dog the city.
The candidates will now have to face questions, including those from Crowe, who recently visited the capital and had some suggestions on how to improve the city for tourists, especially if he draws a comparison between his hometown and Bangkok.
Crowe was in Thailand from September 18 to October 26 last year to film “The Greatest Beer Run Ever”.
He took to Twitter to post his impressions of Thailand and praised Bangkok for its food, people and culture, drawing appreciation from the public as well as the government.
After leaving Thailand, he tweeted on his @russellcrowe account that he missed Bangkok, writing: “It’s a beautiful, interesting, exciting place. The people are warm and welcoming.”
The Channel 7 debate on Thursday commences at 4.15pm.
The Central Administrative Court issued an injunction on Wednesday against the Election Commission’s order to disqualify a Bangkok governor candidate.
In its order, the court said the EC must allow Kraidej Bunnag, candidate No 19, to continue to run in the May 22 gubernatorial election.
The administrative court reasoned that if Kraidej was later found by the Supreme Court to be a qualified Bangkok governor candidate, the damage would be irreversible if he was banned right away from contesting the election.
The injunction order also noted that if Kraidej won the election but was found by a court ruling later to be disqualified, the EC could require him to pay compensation for having to hold a new election.
The EC made a decision on April 11 to disqualify Kraidej as a candidate on grounds that he allegedly owned shares in a publication called Highlight Buntherng.
But Kraidej asked the Central Administrative Court to issue an injunction against the EC’s order.
On April 29, the court had also issued an injunction against the EC’s order to disqualify Move Forward Party candidate Piraphol Kanokwalai, who is running for a Bangkok Council Phayathai district seat.
The EC decided that Piraphol was disqualified because he owned a media company, but the Move Forward candidate argued that the printing business has been discontinued for 28 years.
Five leading candidates revealed their master plans for developing the capital in “The final lap of Bangkok governor election” debate at Siam Paragon on Sunday. The debate was organised by Nation Group.
Laying out their visions for Bangkok were Chadchart Sittipunt and Sakoltee Phattiyakul (independents), plus the Democrat Party’s Suchatvee Suwansawat, Move Forward’s Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn and Thai Sang Thai’s Sita Dhivari.
‘Generate revenue from tourism, hotel tax’
Sakoltee said he would collect tax from hotels that would generate more than 10 billion baht in revenue to improve Bangkokians’ quality of life.
“In 2016, Bangkok received the most tourists in the world, but we didn’t take advantage of this,” he said.
Meanwhile Suchatvee said he would boost tourists’ confidence in Covid-19 safety and hold festivals across all 50 districts of the capital to attract them.
Wiroj echoed Sakoltee in vowing to collect guest fees from hotels to power Bangkok’s overall development.
Increase welfare for the disabled
Sita said disabled Bangkokians must be given more access to welfare and jobs. All Bangkok agencies must offer positions for this group, he added.
“Government agencies ignore human rights, especially for the disabled,” he said.
Sakoltee also promised to improve the lives of disabled people and give them job opportunities in Bangkok agencies. He said he would also boost their labour skills so they could live with dignity.
Using state land to help vendors
Chadchart said he would ensure all street vendors were registered and made hygiene-aware. A committee would be set up to oversee vendors, who would be allowed to sell goods on state land. “We now have 84 areas [in Bangkok] where hawkers can sell goods, but more than 10,000 have gone,” he said.
Sakoltee said he would also assist hawkers and allow them to sell goods on government agency land.
Using technology to tackle floods
Sita said he would deploy hi-tech ways of forecasting rain to strengthen Bangkok’s defences against flooding.
Wiroj, meanwhile, said the flooding problem had been worsened by budget cuts for pumping stations and dredging.
“Only 8 per cent of the budget has been disbursed [this year], showing that those responsible for this issue cannot work, so we have to deal with this,” he said.
Suchatvee said he would launch a flood-defence project to protect Bangkok from high sea levels while also deploying the internet as an early-warning system.
“Using WiFi to combat flood problems will change Bangkokians’ lives,” he said.
Tackle city-planning chaos
Chadchart said Bangkok pavements must meet modern standards and be built to last.
“We will not allow contractors to work on their own,” he said. “At least 1,000 kilometres of pavements must be improved.”
He added that environmental impact assessments (EIA) must be conducted on all condo and other high-building projects.
Meanwhile, Sita vowed to amend “outdated” laws covering high-building projects to give local communities a say in their construction.
Smart city development
Suchatvee said he would deploy hi-tech to develop Bangkok into a smart city within four years.
“Technologies will solve many issues and boost citizens happiness and safety,” he said.
He added that all Bangkokians would be given free internet, which would also increase accountability and help eliminate corruption.
Wiroj said technologies and digital governance must be transparent and able to tackle corruption.
Boosting revenue for city and citizens
Sakoltee vowed to ensure Bangkokians could generate revenue and use their income wisely. He added that income would be distributed more evenly, reaching communities to improve people’s quality of life.
Wiroj, meanwhile, said tax revenue would be used to subsidise Bangkok’s small companies.
He added that tax revenue would be used to boost welfare for the elderly, children and disabled people.
Right to protest?
Wiroj said he would prepare stages to allow protesters to hold rallies in line with their constitutional rights while ensuring their safety.
He said he was ready to support rallies in line with the law, vowing that he would listen to citizens’ problems and generate revenue for them.
Suchatvee said he would also protect protesters’ right to free speech in line with laws, adding that he considered Bangkokians his family members.
Chadchart said he would facilitate protesters by providing them with drinking water, toilets and medical aid. He also vowed to make Bangkok a dynamic place to live for all people.
“For Bangkokians who are desperate, I am ready to offer hope,” he added.
Meanwhile, Sita said he would take care of protesters in all aspects in line with the law. He also vowed to use his experience and budget effectively.
The Election Commission (EC) has banned the release of any opinion poll results until after votes are cast for Bangkok governor and councillors on May 22.
However, surveys can still be conducted as per usual, Bangkok’s EC office director Samran Tanpanich said on Sunday.
“The aim is to prevent candidates taking unfair advantage or disadvantage, as voters traditionally cast their vote for the most favourite candidate or the underdog,” he said.
He added that voters who are not able to cast their ballot next Sunday can inform their local registrar at their district office either seven days before (May 15-21) or seven days (May 23-29) after the election.
They can either inform the registrar in person, via post, the SmartVote app or through the www.bora.dopa.go.th and www.ect.go.th websites,” he said.
Samran also called on all gubernatorial and Bangkok council candidates to launch campaigns that are in line with laws, especially when it comes to setting up campaign banners.
He also urged voters to study candidates’ names and backgrounds thoroughly before casting a vote.
Chadchart Sittipunt remains the most talked-about candidate on social media ahead of the Bangkok governor election next Sunday, according to a digital media survey.
The Real Smart Co Ltd on Sunday revealed that its second “Social Listening” study, carried out over the past three months, showed Chadchart received more than twice as many positive mentions in social media than his nearest rival.
The study analysed 1.95 million posts about the Bangkok governor election on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and websites.
The 10 candidates most positively talked about were:
1. Chadchart (230,000 mentions)
2. Aswin Kwanmuang (94,000 mentions)
3. Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn (58,000 mentions)
4. Sita Dhivari (12,802 mentions)
5. Sakoltee Phattiyakul (10,690 mentions)
6. Suchatvee Suwansawat (4,837 mentions)
7. Rosana Tositrakul (3,450 mentions)
8. Weerachai Laoruangwatana (36 mentions)
9. Thanet Wongsa (6 mentions)
10. Supachai Tantikhom (5 mentions)
Chadchart also topped the list for neutral (neither positive nor negative) mentions:
– Chadchart (689,971 mentions)
– Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn (209,043 mentions)
– Aswin Kwanmuang (173,532 mentions)
– Rosana Tositrakul (55,753 mentions)
– Suchatvee Suwansawat (42,006 mentions)
– Sakoltee Phattiyakul (35,893 mentions)
– Sita Dhivari (20,210 mentions)
– Supachai Tantikhom (5,019 mentions)
– Thanet Wongsa (1,686 mentions)
– Weerachai Laoruangwatana (925 mentions)
Chadchart is favourite to win the election after consistently topping opinion polls of Bangkok voters.
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