Letter from the polling station

But this time, my favourite, Kaewsan Atibodhi, seemed to lag behind although his policies sounded the most sensible for all Bangkok residents.

And the results are exactly as I feared - Kaewsan trailed Democrat Party candidate Sukhumbhand Paribatra, Pheu Thai candidate Yuranan Pamornmontri and independent ML Nattakorn Devakula.

Like Nattakorn said, the results demonstrate that Bangkok residents are simply shutting the door on independent candidates. As a matter of fact, it would be interesting to know if Sukhumbhand and Yuranan would have garnered such huge votes had they not represented political parties.

In this campaign, Sukhumbhand promised to return smiles to the people of Bangkok. Yet, his main policies are those laid out by Apirak. Meanwhile, it is outrageous if all pedestrian flyovers are opened to street vendors, when the small bridges should be cleared of all obstacles to facilitate smooth traffic.

Yet, Nattakorn should be proud that as an independent, he outscored Kaewsan even though many of his policies were less "integrated and practical". It could have been due to his appearance as a young man with a strong determination to serve. But his appearance is not that good for all to forget that his policies contain flaws.

In one of the last debates, asked what he would do to prevent fires at entertainment venues, Nattakorn replied that his attention would be on large venues with hordes of visitors. Kaewsan bluntly said district chiefs must be held responsible for mishaps at all venues under their jurisdiction, if the venues are proved to have improper structures or fire systems. This means the law must be enforced on an equal basis, as all lives are valuable.

It is worth noting that before Apirak, Bangkok residents clearly separated national politics from local politics. From Chamlong Srimuang, Krisda Arunvongse na Ayutthaya and Bhichit Rattakul to Samak Sundaravej, all were independents.

Some votes went to the Democrat's Apirak thanks to the emergence of the Thai Rak Thai Party. As TRT ruled the nation, Bangkok voters balanced their power by giving their votes to Apirak.

Though the Democrats are now ruling the country, Democrats in the capital poured their support to Sukhumbhand for fear that Yuranan, the candidate of the Pheu Thai Party - which consists mostly of former TRT members - would win. As a result, few votes were left for the other candidates.

Kaewsan probably knew this, when he planned to run for Bangkok governor on behalf of the Democrats. He could have won more votes that way, but he would not have been happy, as most of the votes would be for the Democrats, not for his policies.

I have been a loyal fan of the Democrats, like many in my office, but we sided with Kaewsan for the sake of his policies - which are designed specifically for the city, regardless of what national policies are prescribed.

As a big city, Bangkok needs an independent governor who can say "No!" to any national policy that does not actually benefit the city people to whom he must be accountable.

It would be interesting to see how Sukhumbhand would react if the Democrat-led government planned an electric train project in an area that would disrupt other plans of Bangkok.

Though, I was relieved that, after learning of the exit polls, Kaewsan was not devastated. He vowed to continue improving Bangkok. With about Bt500,000 left over from the Bangkok governor election budget, he would establish the "New Bangkok Group", which would come up with suggestions on how to improve Bangkok's communities.

Leaving the polling booth today, I hoped that next time Bangkok residents would separate national from local politics. Given the magnitude of its problems and imbalances, the city does need an independent leader if its status on the world stage is to be boosted to match world-class metropolises like New York or London.