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In an interview with the Nation group, he said "Thai style politics" had "stained him".

The investigation into the fireequipment scandal continues, but he believes the allegations will forever follow him. But, this does not concern him overly.

Apirak said many people, includ¬ing those at ministerial level had been implicated, as had others lower down.

Furthermore, the agreement was made in 2003, before he took office. However, the Assets Examination Committee ruled the agreement ille¬gal, and that includes the comple¬tion of the contract, which he signed.

He said people were welcome to their views on his complicity or clean hands.

"I have unavoidably become a target in Thai-style politics, in the bat¬tle between two poles. There has been an attempt to accuse me in the fireequipment scandal. The AEC has concluded I am innocent," he said.

"Unless one is in the same posi¬tion as me, one doesn't know how it feels. I don't want this scandal to haunt me for five years, 10 years. When they mention my name, they will call me 'Apirak the fire truck'. I must defend myself and have the public know I'm innocent," Apirak said.

Apirak became governor in September 2004. The Democrat Party has decided to field him for a second term. His policies in the campaign will mirror the party's, he said.

He said his party has confidence in him. However, if the National CounterCorruption Commission indicts him, he will have to step aside.

Apirak is noncommittal about his chances of winning a second term. He does not know yet who he will be up against or what the current voter opinion of him is.

In 2004, he was a "new face". Now he has been governor for a whole term. His image as a former businessman is now long in the past.

In his second term, he has a dream to improve Bangkok as a place to live - like London, Paris, Tokyo, Beijing and Seoul. While residents should have a high quality of life in a good environment with an advanced transportation system, the city must preserve its historic and cultural uniqueness, he said.

This is a challenging goal, he said. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has limited authority as legally, the BMA has only as much authority as a municipality.

"No matter how much a governor wants to solve the city's traffic problems, they will not be able to eradicate it. I cannot, either. The BMA doesn't have complete authority. The power is in the hands of other agencies, including the Interior Ministry," he said.

But, he said being a governor during a central administration consisting of political parties other than his own could not obstruct him from accomplishing projects.

"In the past four years, have any electrictrain projects been completed? No. Only mine has been started," he said, referring to the extensions of the Skytrain from the Taksin and On Nut stations.

Apirak said he had established special agencies many times to be responsible for BMA projects in an effort to avoid red tape. He cites his success with the Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre.

He said he could work with a gov¬ernment from other parties on many projects, such as global warming.

Apirak said he was seeking to amend laws governing the BMA as they are very complicated.

He said if he had an advantage over other candidates it would be from his experience in administra¬tion, and his understanding of the more than 10,000 people working for the body.

This, he said, was completely different from managing a business.