Aswin Kwanmuang is the first appointed governor of Bangkok in the last 30 years but he claimed the role as much by accident as by design.
For Pol Gen Aswin, a retired police officer with close links to the military, the Democrat Party and People’s Democratic Reform Committee, the path to City Hall was paved with a combination of serendipity and Thai-style politics.
He was picked to replace ML Sukhumbhand Paribatra after the latter fell from grace due to a scandal involving a 39-million-baht light exhibition in front of City Hall that was criticised for being an astronomical waste of money.
Appointed governor on Oct 18, 2016, a few days after the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, Pol Gen Aswin was granted the honour of helping to prepare the royal funeral and cremation of the revered former monarch.
Since then, his face has popped up all over the city as he has busied himself trying to solve many of the problems residents here face.
He became immensely popular but gained a reputation for keeping the media at arm’s length, rarely giving interviews.
Yet last week he held a press conference heralding his achievements after a year in the post. He also informed the media of his plans over the next 300 days, which we have printed below.
He said he expects to seek re-election as Bangkok governor but nothing is set in stone.
Many politicians give vague answers and predictions but you clearly list your goals and provide specific deadlines for what you hope to achieve after 100, 200 and 300 days. Why?
I don’t want to see my ideas become intangible or fail to materialise, so I put a timeline on things.
By setting a timeline and deadlines, you will be able to see which projects I complete or fail to get done. This deadline will drive and motivate me to accomplish those goals.
And if I can’t complete the projects as I’ve promised on deadline, it means I should resign.
You will see these campaigns I plan to carry out over the next 100, 200 or 300 days are in line with the country’s 20-year development master plan.
You talk a lot about quality of life. As governor, what do you hope to achieve in terms of improving people’s livelihoods?
Bangkok is a global metropolitan city. It is a nexus of government, politics, economics, culture, tourism and much more. Yet it’s getting overcrowded while much of the population is greying. So we need to look at projects and services in terms of how they can provide a better quality of life and make the city a more liveable place where people can be happy. A sustainable city.
I want to create services that fit the future of our ageing society. Our projects include mobile medical teams that will visit the elderly at their homes. Soon we will create mobile dental teams. In terms of education, I want to see BMA schools become desirable places for students and parents, in the same way they look at Triam Udom Suksa or Sathit Demonstration School.
I know most of our schools are for students from the lower and middle classes, but I have policies to upgrade them by providing vocational training to ensure our students will be highly skilled workers. We will also make BMA schools bi-lingual. They will pay attention to kids who might not be assertive and sit, the ones who sit at the back of the class. We will help them. Our schools will have a policy to not leave anyone behind.
Can you tell us some more about your Water Bank project?
I got the idea from watching a Japanese documentary Prime Minister Prayut Chano-cha sent to me. Under the Water Bank project, we will create underground aquifers to absorb rainwater. This will help to retain floodwater for a while. We will start developing five water banks within the first 100 days.
How would you evaluate your performance so far?
I’m still not content with it. I’d give myself a mark of 50%. I just passed the test as there is still a lot I failed to get done. I try to get real responses from people by opening my social media page and using online platforms to learn about what people think of my work.
Do you plan to contest the next election for Bangkok governor?
People constantly approach me about this. I have to say that is a matter which needs to be decided at some point in the future. However, I won’t deny it is a possibility. It’s highly likely I will run in the next election — but if so I would contest as an independent, not for any political party. Again, this is an issue that pertains to the distant future. I think it will become clearer in the future.