Three Phuket candidates registered to battle it out for Patong mayor

PHUKET: Three candidates have registered to fight for the position of mayor in Phuket’s premier resort town of Patong in the upcoming April 26 election.

“Kittisan Kuru of the Patong Gao Na (Patong Progress) Party and former town council member was the last candidate to register today at 8:30am,” Patong Municipality Chief Administrative Officer (Palad) Poonsak Naksena told the Phuket Gazette yesterday.

Registration closed at 4pm yesterday for mayoral and council member candidates.

“There are three candidates running for mayor. Candidate number ‘1’ is Chalermluck Kebsab, number ‘2’ is former mayor Pian Keesin and number ‘3’ is Mr Kittisan,” he said.

Ms Chalermluck, joined by her Patong Fa Mai (New Sky Patong) supporters and Mr Pian, supported by fellow Rak Patong (Love Patong) members, registered for the race on Thursday (story here).

Although Mr Pian was found guilty of vote fraud on March 7, he was allowed by the court to run for re-election (story here).

Mr Kittisan took a moment to express his thoughts about the upcoming election.

“I am confident of my position in this election, as many local residents support the Patong Gao Na Party,” he said.

“I have several objectives I will focus on as mayor: increasing transparency within Patong Municipality management; flood prevention; better management of traffic and waste; improvement of safety by increasing the number of CCTV cameras; promotion of community health; creation of educational opportunities with a focus on foreign language and youth development; promotion of sustainable tourism; restoration of natural resources; and finding solutions to environmental problems.”

The by-election is set for April 26, and will be accompanied by a Patong-specific alcohol ban that will begin at 6pm the night before and end at midnight the day of the election (story here).

— Krisada Mueanhawong