Parties gear up for national poll

PHUKET: Two of Thailand’s three major political parties, the Democrats and Thai Rak Thai, are close to final selection of their candidates in the run-up to national elections which must be held before the end of this year. Because of the growth in its population, Phuket will elect two members of parliament – it currently has just one. Thai Rak Thai party has announced that one of its candidates will be Hiran Thepsiri-amnuoy, who will run for Voting District 2. The party’s second candidate has yet to be named; Gazette sources say that Yada Palimapan, a member of the Provincial Administration Organization, was approached to run for Thai Rak Thai, but that she turned down the offer. Sources also say that it is likely that the Democrats will put forward Suwit Sa-Ngiamkul as their candidate for Voting District 1. K Suwit is currently a member of the Phuket Town Municipal Council. There is no news so far on whether the current MP for Phuket, Anchalee Vanich-Thepabutr of the Democrats, will stand for election in District 2. District 1 covers Phuket Town apart from Tambon Rassada and Tambon Koh Kaew, both of which fall into Voting District 2, along with the rest of the island.