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If not, MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra of the ruling Democrat Party and the front-running candidate, is expected to win the governor's post by a margin of less than 100,000 votes.

On October 5 last year, when Apirak Kosayodhin was re-elected to the post, the turnout was just 54 per cent.Apirak later tendered his resignation as he was implicated in a case of alleged corruption.

Analysts forecast tomorrow's voter turnout at about 60 per cent, which would make it difficult for the trailing candidates to beat Sukhumbhand.

Bangkok has a total of 4,151,705 eligible voters. Sukhum Charueysub, who heads the widely respected Suan Dusit Poll, said yesterday that Sukhumbhand would likely get around 800,000 votes in the poll.

Last October Apirak won the race with nearly 1 million votes, while Prapat Chongsanguan came second with about 540,000.

According to Sukhum, Sukhumbhand's edges over his rivals include his party's affiliation and support from Apirak's previous winning team.

A Bangkok Poll conducted on January 2 showed Sukhumbhand enjoyed support from 36.4 per cent of voters, followed by Yuranan Pamornmontri's 17.9 per cent, ML Nattakorn Devakula's 13.8 per cent and Kaewsan Atibodhi's 6.3 per cent.

Yuranan is running under the banner of the opposition Pheu Thai party, while Nattakorn and Kaewsan are independent candidates.

It is unlikely that these candidates will overtake Sukhumbhand in the final race, whereas Nattakorn and Yuranan are competing for the same group of voters who do not want to support the Democrat Party or the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD).

In terms of policies and proposed management teams, Sukhumbhand and Kaewsan appear to have the strongest chance of winning votes. The former is backed by Apirak's previous winning team, while the latter's proposed management team is also relatively strong.

Besides Apirak, Sukhumbhand has received support from the ruling Democrat Party's Bangkok-based councillors, while voters who support the PAD will likely cast their ballots for Sukhumbhand, too.

As for Kaewsan, his strength lies in a set of solid policies plus a highly qualified management team, which includes former tourism chief Pongsak Payakwichien and former deputy premier Somkid Jatusripitak.