Sukhumbhand vows to probe fire-truck scandal

He will study the budget requests for this fiscal year and will discuss with the Bangkok Metropolitan Council about changing some details. He also will resolve problems with the management of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA).

As of 9.48 pm, Sukhumbhand had collected 903,413 votes, almost double the tally of Pheu Thai Party candidate Yuranan Pamornmontri, the first runner-up. Trailing behind were ML Nattakorn Devakula and Kaewsan Atibodhi.

Only 2.12 million voters cast their ballots, or 51.10 per cent, according to City Clerk Pongsak Semsant. Thawi Watthana district showed the highest voter turnout, at 58.51 per cent, while the lowest was in Dusit district, with 45.94 per cent. Bangkok expected the ratio to be as high as 70 per cent.

Sukhumbhand said this Bangkok governor election was the toughest in his life as a politician because it was complicated and he had to hit the hustings over a much wider area than for a general campaign, which covers only one constituency.

"Actually I'm not a talkative person but this time I had to talk a lot and did a lot of interviews with the media. It made me tired. I'm not tired from campaigning, but from talking," he said. "I will serve all groups and sides as the Bangkok governor," he added.

Yuranan, a former actor who served several terms as a Bangkok MP, thanked all the voters who gave their trust to him and also the other candidates who created a constructive campaign for this round. He said he would accept the results of the vote.

"I'm not stuck on the position. I can still work for the people in any position," he said.

Fellow candidate Nattakorn said he was not disappointed with this Bangkok governor election if the official tally came out the same as the exist polls. He was proud with the ballots that he received from voters who thought he would be the new choice for politics.

He said the results show that most Bangkok residents still strung behind the political party banner and Bangkok was a strong poll for the Democrat and Pheu Thai parties. It was difficult for an independent candidate to make a good showing.

"I'm not sorry for my decision not to be a candidate for a political party because I don't want to do everything to win a victory. I just want to prove my assumption and confidence to work for the people, that without the name of a political party, would it be acceptable or not," he said.

For his future political work, he would spend two to three years improving his social status, raising more funds and waiting for the time for the next election.

Independent candidate Kaewsan said the result of the exist polls was lower than he had predicted. He wants to study the findings in detail because there were several groups of voters in Bangkok including fresh market vendors, households, youths and office workers.

When told that Sukhumbhand has invited him to work as a part of his team to investigate the BMA corruption case, he said this was ridiculous. Whoever becomes the governor should conduct the investigation into the scandal, he said. It was dangerous to invite him to do so because it means the Bangkok governor will not take responsibility for the corruption case.

"I will absolutely not team up with him if he asks me like this," he said.

On his political plans, he said he would set up the New Bangkok foundation for a future campaign. However, if Bangkok residents continue backing political party candidates he will not run the next time.