PATHUM THANI: Chan Puangpetch, who received support from the ruling Pheu Thai Party, was elected president of the Pathum Thani provincial administrative organisation (PAO) on Sunday.
He received 203,032 votes while Pol Lt Gen Kamronwit Toopkrajang had 201,212 votes, election authorities of Pathum Thani announced on Monday morning. Mr Chan thus narrowly won the seat back, by 1,820 votes, from Pol Lt Gen Kamronwit after his 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, 62, and Pol Lt Gen Kamronwit, 72, were the two main candidates in the provincial administrative election.
Mr Chan served three trms as Pathum Thani PAO president three until 2020, when he was defeated by Pol Lt Gen Kamronwit, a former Bangkok police commissioner who at that timehad 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 be prime minister than at the last election. Meanwhile, the popularity of Pheu Thai and its prime ministerial candidates is way down.
Pol Lt Gen Kamronwit Toopkrajang casts his vote in Thanyaburi district, Pathum Thani, on Sunday morning. (Photo: Pongpat Wongyala)