Paiboon wins Senate seat

PHUKET: Paiboon Upatising won election on Saturday as Phuket’s representative in Thailand’s Senate. K. Paiboon received 51,059 votes, just 3,290 votes ahead of Chaiwat Narukatpichai, managing director of the Phuket Arcadia Hotel and Resort. Trailing in third place was Dr Sirinit Ratanadilok Na Phuket, with only 8,435 votes. Of Phuket’s 168,356 eligible voters, 132,801 (or 78.86%) voted in the election, the highest turnout in the island’s voting history. Of the 132,801 votes cast, 7,542 (5.7%) were abstentions and 5,782 (4.4%) were invalid. K. Paiboon, 43, is a former Phuket Rotary Club president, and a former president of the Phuket Chamber of Commerce. Currently he is the managing director of property developer Phuket Villa Co Ltd and of Phuket Siwalee Co Ltd, the local distributor of Singha Beer.