Bangkok gubernatorial election, 2013

Bangkok gubernatorial election, 2013
Turnout	63.98%
	Gubernatorial election results map. Blue denotes districts won by Paribatra, Red denotes those won by Pongcharoen.
Governor before election; Sukhumbhand Paribatra ; Democrat	Elected Governor; Sukhumbhand Paribatra ; Democrat

Last updated March 13, 2019

The tenth election for the governorship of Bangkok took place on 3 March 2013. The election was won by incumbent governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra of the Democrat Party. Twenty-five candidates contested the election. Pol Gen Pongsapat Pongcharoen, representing the Pheu Thai Party, was regarded as the other major contender.

Mom Rajawongse Sukhumbhand Paribatra is a Thai politician belonging to the Democrat Party. From 2009-2016 he was the Governor of Bangkok. He was removed from the post in October 2016 by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha who used Section 44 of the interim charter to remove the elected official. The reason given for his ouster was "...because he was involved in many legal cases." He was replaced by Police General Aswin Kwanmuang.

The Democrat Party is a Thai political party. The oldest party in Thailand, it was founded as a conservative and royalist party, and now upholds a conservative-liberal and classically liberal pro-market position.

Pongsapat Pongcharoen was the Deputy Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police and 2013 Bangkok gubernatorial candidate for Pheu Thai Party.

The election was scheduled to take place sixty days after Sukhumbhand resigned on 9 January 2013, his second-to-last day of office. (Resignation, as opposed to completion of the term, effectively extended the election deadline for another fifteen days.) The Election Commission accepted registrations on 21–25 January, although unofficial campaigning had begun earlier.

The election was viewed as a sharp contest between the Democrat Party, whose candidates had held the governorship since 2004, and the Pheu Thai Party, which lead the current national government. While Bangkok is regarded as a traditional stronghold of the Democrat Party, Sukhumbhand faced low public approval ratings. Prior to endorsing Sukhumbhand, the party faced internal controversy over the candidacy. Sukhumbhand's first-term performance was generally viewed as poor, a fact some have attributed to partisan conflicts between the city and national governments. The Pheu Thai Party picked up on this dissatisfaction and campaigned on "seamless coordination" between the governments. Its candidate Pongsapat previously served as spokesman of the Royal Thai Police.^[1]

The highlight of the election was also other candidates who ran independently, including:^[2]

Police General Seripisut Temiyavet, former Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police and anti-corruption activist;
Suharit Siamwala, DJ and business executive;
Kosit Suvinitjit, former CEO of Media of Medias Co. and Spring News channel;
Thoranee Rittheethamrong, an exorcist who revealed that she applied for candidacy "because of the Heaven's mandate" by which she has been directed to "liberate Bangkok from the authority of the Ministry of Interior and transfer this authority to its citizens";^[3]
Jongjit Hirunlabh, environmentalist;
Captain Metta Temchamnan, war veteran;
Wila Udom, Chatuchak Market representative.

Police General Seripisut Temiyavet was Commissioner of the Royal Thai Police between February 2007 and April 2008. Appointed Police Commissioner of Thailand by a military junta, replacing Kowit Wattana, the Police Commissioner under deposed Premier Thaksin Shinawatra. Removed from office in April 2008 by the elected government of Samak Sundaravej under charges of corruption. He was a police officer who gained a reputation from targeting mafia leaders like "Kamnan Poh" and "Por Pratunam" . The junta also appointed him Director of the Airports of Thailand, along with Chairman General Saprang Kalayanamitr. He chairs the Friends of Seri Foundation, which was engaged in controversial loans to junta-appointed Constitution Drafting Committee and National Legislative Assembly member Thanaboon Jiranuwat. He is married to Phatsaweesiri Thepchatri Temiyavet and has 3 children.

Spring News is a Thai Television news channel owned by Spring News Television Ltd. part of News Network Corporation PCL.

In some religions, an exorcist is a person who is believed to be able to cast out the devil or other demons. A priest, a nun, a monk, a healer, a shaman or other specially prepared or instructed person can be an exorcist. An exorcist is a person who performs the ridding of demons or other supernatural beings who are alleged to have possessed a person, or (sometimes) a building or even an object.

Sukhumbhand won the election with 1,256,349 votes,^[4] or 47.75% percent of votes cast. Pongsapat won 1,077,899 votes (40.97%). Voter turnout was 63.98 percent.^[5]

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References

↑ Kiatpongsan, Praj (28 February 2013). "Sukhumbhand's Last Stand: Bangkok election loss could spell major shake-up for Democrat Party". Coconuts Bangkok. Coconuts Media . Retrieved 1 March 2013.
↑ เปิดประวัติ 25 ผู้สมัครผู้ว่าราชการกรุงเทพมหานคร [Let's see the 25 candidates in Bangkok gubernatorial election] (in Thai). kapook.com. n.d. Retrieved 2013-03-01.
↑ ฮือฮา! ธรณี ฤทธีธรรมรงค์ สมัครผู้ว่าฯ ตามบัญชาสวรรค์ [Don't panic! Thoranee Rittheethamrong applies for candidacy in accordance with Heaven's mandate] (in Thai). Khaosod. 2013-01-26. Retrieved 2013-03-01.
↑ Chongkolrattanaporn, Teerada; Combs, Howard. "THAI CITIZENS' UTILIZATION OF SOCIAL MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS DEVICES DURING THE BANGKOK GOVERNOR CAMPAIGN IN 2013" (PDF). Chulalongkorn University & San Jose State University. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
↑ "ผลการเลือกตั้งผู้ว่าราชการกรุงเทพมหานคร ผลอย่างไม่เป็นทางการ ณ เวลา 21:53 น" [Bangkok governor election results: Unofficial results as of 21:53]. Bangkok Metropolitan Administration website. Archived from the original on March 6, 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2013.

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[Coconuts-1] Kiatpongsan, Praj (28 February 2013). "Sukhumbhand's Last Stand: Bangkok election loss could spell major shake-up for Democrat Party". Coconuts Bangkok. Coconuts Media . Retrieved 1 March 2013.

[2] เปิดประวัติ 25 ผู้สมัครผู้ว่าราชการกรุงเทพมหานคร [Let's see the 25 candidates in Bangkok gubernatorial election] (in Thai). kapook.com. n.d. Retrieved 2013-03-01.

[3] ฮือฮา! ธรณี ฤทธีธรรมรงค์ สมัครผู้ว่าฯ ตามบัญชาสวรรค์ [Don't panic! Thoranee Rittheethamrong applies for candidacy in accordance with Heaven's mandate] (in Thai). Khaosod. 2013-01-26. Retrieved 2013-03-01.

[4] Chongkolrattanaporn, Teerada; Combs, Howard. "THAI CITIZENS' UTILIZATION OF SOCIAL MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS DEVICES DURING THE BANGKOK GOVERNOR CAMPAIGN IN 2013" (PDF). Chulalongkorn University & San Jose State University. Retrieved 11 November 2015.

[5] "ผลการเลือกตั้งผู้ว่าราชการกรุงเทพมหานคร ผลอย่างไม่เป็นทางการ ณ เวลา 21:53 น" [Bangkok governor election results: Unofficial results as of 21:53]. Bangkok Metropolitan Administration website. Archived from the original on March 6, 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2013.