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2008 Bangkok gubernatorial election

Eighth gubernatorial election for the city of Bangkok, Thailand


Summary

Eighth gubernatorial election for the city of Bangkok, Thailand

FieldValue
countryThailand
flag_imageFlag of Bangkok.svg
typepresidential
previous_election2004 Bangkok gubernatorial election
previous_year2004
election_date5 October 2008
next_electionBangkok gubernatorial election, 2009
next_year2009
turnout54.18%
image1
candidate1Apirak Kosayothin
party1Democrat Party (Thailand)
popular_vote1991,018
percentage145.93%
image2
candidate2Prapas Chongsa-nguan
party2People's Power Party (Thailand)
popular_vote2543,488
percentage225.19%
image4
colour4CE2029
candidate4Chuwit Kamolvisit
party4Independent politician
popular_vote4340,616
percentage415.79%
colour50BDA51
candidate5Kriengsak Chareonwongsak
party5Independent politician
popular_vote5260,051
percentage512.05%
map_imageBangkok gubernatorial election 2008 by district.svg
map_captionGubernatorial election results map. Blue denotes districts won by Apirak
titleGovernor
before_electionApirak Kosayothin
before_partyDemocrat Party (Thailand)
after_electionApirak Kosayothin
after_partyDemocrat Party (Thailand)

The 2008 Bangkok gubernatorial election was held on 5 October 2008, this was the eighth election for the governorship of Bangkok. The incumbent Democrat governor, Apirak Kosayothin, won the election, securing a second consecutive four-year term. Of a total of 4,087,329 eligible voters, 2,214,320 voted, giving a turnout rate of 54.18 percent, lower than the 70 percent target expected by the Election Committee.

Sixteen candidates contested the election. Apirak, candidate for the opposition Democrat Party, was seen as the favourite. Other candidates included Chuwit Kamolvisit, a former massage parlour businessman who also ran in the 2004 election, Prapas Chongsa-nguan, former governor of the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand and candidate for the People's Power Party, Kriengsak Chareonwongsak, an academic and professor in business administration, and Leena Jangjanja, a businesswoman and lawyer who ran in the previous election and the 2006 senate election.

The sixth elected governor of Bangkok, Apirak is the second to be elected to a second term, after Chamlong Srimuang, governor from 1985–1992, who was incidentally arrested at a polling station early on the election day, on charges of insurrection due to his role as leader of the People's Alliance for Democracy, a group which has staged protests and occupied Government House since August.

Campaign

Apirak's four-year term as governor ended on 28 August 2008. Applications for the post were accepted from 1 to 5 September, and the official list of candidates was announced on 11 September. Campaigning included public speeches by candidates, television interviews, campaign trucks announcing messages through loudspeakers, and most noticeably, a multitude of campaign posters erected on the pavements, some of which fell over and injured pedestrians and motorcyclists.

The more unusual campaigning stunts included Leena's bathing in a canal to reflect the local population's experiences, which ended tragically when her campaign manager drowned. Nearer to the election day, Chuwit caused headline news by punching and kicking a television journalist after an interview.

Chuwit also filed complaints against Apirak, claiming that the appearance of Apirak's name on the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's election publicity posters violated electoral law. The case was accepted by the Bangkok Election Committee, but a final ruling by the Election Commission would not be heard until after the election.

Results

Polling was organised by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration under the supervision of the Bangkok Election Commission, with a total budget of over 154 million baht. Voting took place from 08:00 to 15:00 on 5 October at 6,337 polling stations across the fifty districts of the city.

Exit polls by Assumption and Suan Dusit Rajabhat Universities indicated that Apirak had won 44 to 52 percent of the vote by the time the polling stations closed. The unofficial results, to be submitted to the Election Commission for approval, were announced by the Bangkok City Clerk on midnight.

References

References

  1. AFP 2008.
  2. Head 2008.
  3. Sinlapalavan & Kongdejsakda 2008.
  4. Wong-Anan 2008.
  5. Wancharoen & Glahan 2008.
  6. BMA 2008a
  7. TNA 2008.
  8. Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA). (2008). "รายงานความคืบหน้านับคะเเนนผู้สมัครการเลือกตั้งผู้ว่าราชาการกรุงเทพมหานคร ปี 2551" [Progress report of vote counting for candidates in the Bangkok governor's election 2008]. (PDF) (in Thai). http://office2.bangkok.go.th/ard/wp-content/uploads/election/3.8.pdf {{Webarchive. link. (2021-12-31)
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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