Six non-governmental organisations have joined hands to campaign for a fair Bangkok governor election while conceding fraud is likely.

Warin Thiamcharas, secretary-general of PollWatch, said six NGOs, including his organisation, will campaign for a fair election and monitor movements before, during and after votes are cast.

He said election cheating is not yet apparent because the Aug 29 election was still a long way off and the candidate list was not yet final. But he said election fraud is inevitable because some candidates were supported by big political parties which could not afford to lose.

PollWatch will be joined in the campaign by the Constitution for People Association, the Law Society of Thailand, the Election Network Organisation, the Civic Network for Election and Bangkok Forum.

To win, candidates are likely to use any means to woo voters, especially vote-buying in slum and suburban communities.

To monitor the election, the NGOs will operate 90 centres in Bangkok during August to receive complaints on campaign irregularities.

As well, Mr Warin said the NGOs wanted the Election Commission and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to more heavily promote the election as many residents were still unaware of when it was and the political platforms of each candidate.