PATHUM THANI: Chan Puangpetch who received support from the ruling Pheu Thai Party was unofficially elected the president of the Pathum Thani provincial administrative organisation (PAO) on Sunday.
He received 203,010 votes while Pol Lt Gen Kamronwit Toopkrajang had 201,041 votes. Mr Chan thus narrowly won the seat back, by only 1,969 votes, from Pol Lt Gen Kamronwit after his previous defeat in 2020.
Mr Chan said at his house in Sam Khok district on Sunday night that he was glad that Pathum Thani people supported him. He also said he must thank the Pheu Thai Party and Thaksin Shinawatra for their great support.
Mr Chan and Pol Lt Gen Kamronwit were two main candidates in the provincial administrative election.
Mr Chan was Pathum Thani PAO president three times until 2020, when he was defeated by Pol Lt Gen Kamronwit, a former Bangkok police commissioner who at that time obtained support from Pheu Thai.
Political observers earlier noted that Thaksin and Pheu Thai figures appeared in Pathum Thani ahead of the PAO election in order to campaign for Mr Chan and also for Pheu Thai. The descendant of Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai party lost most House seats in the province to the Move Forward Party (MFP) in the May 14, 2023 general election.
MFP won the election but was blocked from taking power, leading to a Pheu Thai-led coalition government with parties aligned with the military.
However, opinion surveys show that more respondents now support MFP and its key figure to lead the government and have the prime minister's seat than at the last election. Meanwhile, the popularity of Pheu Thai and its prime ministerial candidates has been left far behind.
Pol Lt Gen Kamronwit Toopkrajang casts his vote in Thanyaburi district, Pathum Thani, on Sunday morning. (Photo: Pongpat Wongyala)