Phuket Town on the wagon for poll day

PHUKET: Planning on going out drinking in Phuket Town this Saturday or Sunday night? If so, change your plans because the town is going dry. A by-election will be taking place on Sunday for one of the seats on the Phuket Town Municipal council, and Thai law requires that the selling and distribution of all alcoholic beverages in town be prohibited. The ban will run from 6 pm tomorrow until midnight on Sunday. According to the Election Act of 1979, all bars, restaurants, hotels and other entertainment venues in Thailand are barred from serving alcohol during elections. Anyone violating the order faces up to six months in jail or a fine of up to 5,000 baht, or both. The by-election is being held to replace Suwit Sa-Ngiamkul, who resigned recently from the council in order to run as a Democrat Party candidate in national elections scheduled to be held around the end of the year. Five candidates will be vying for K. Suwit’s vacant seat: Mattanee Naweekarn of the Creative Party, Watchara Anantrakul of the Young People’s Party, and three independents, Pornsak Jarusarasootthikul, Weerasak Woranaetiwong, and Harn Akewanit.