Bangkok governor independent candidate Chadchart Sittipunt, (c), introduces himself during an election campaign in Bangkok on Tuesday — AP BANGKOK, May 19 (AP): Residents of the Thai capital, Bangkok, will cast their ballots for the city's leader Sunday in a vote seen as a barometer of the public mood ahead of an approaching general election.
Opinion polls suggest that candidates associated with opposition parties in Parliament will dominate in the race, while the incumbent, who is seen as the ruling party's choice, trails behind.
Bangkok, the country's biggest city, is legally a province and the only one where residents can choose their own governor. The position elsewhere is appointed by the Interior Ministry. It has been nine years since the last election, and voters' choice last time was replaced in 2016 by an appointee of the military government then leading Thailand.
Thai politics since a 2006 coup has been generally polarized between pro- and anti-military parties, and the top candidates reflect that schism.
The frontrunner in the polls, Chadchart Sittipunt, is running as an independent. But both his supporters and opponents see him as a proxy for the main opposition party, Pheu Thai, for which he stood as a prime ministerial candidate in the 2019 general election. He served as transport minister in a Pheu Thai government from 2012 to 2014.
"You need a governor for the people: people-centric, you know, respond to their day-to-day problems, improve their day-to-day problems, that's one thing," the 55-year-old Chadchart told The Associated Press as he campaigned recently in a market. "Also you need the governor who has a vision, who has the strategy to bring the city to the future, so you need two jobs."
A record-high 31 candidates entered the race, but Chadchart's performance against one candidate in particular is drawing special scrutiny.
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