BANGKOK GOVERNOR A CITY STORY

Bangkok has had 16 governors, nine of whom were appointed and seven elected.

The first elected governor was Thammanoon Thienngern from the Democrat Party. He was elected on Aug 10, 1975 with 99,247 votes in a 13.86% voter turnout. He did not complete his four-year term due to a bitter feud with the executive and legislative branches in City Hall. Thanin Kraivichien, the prime minister then, dismissed Thammanoon as governor on Oct 29, 1977 and reverted to the system of governor appointment. Four subsequent governors were appointed.

Parliament approved the Bangkok Administrative Regulation Act in 1985 stipulating a Bangkok governor must be elected.

Maj Gen Chamlong Srimuang became the second Bangkok governor to be elected on Nov 14, 1985. He won with 480,233 votes in a voter turnout of 34.66%. He stayed on to complete his term and was re-elected in capacity as leader of the Palang Dharma Party. He later quit as governor and moved to national politics.

The longest-serving governor was MR Sukhumband Paribatra from the Democrat Party. His governorship spanned six years and 202 days. He served a full term in 2009 and resigned during his second term over alleged graft in a procurement project. On Aug 25, 2016, Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, as leader of the coup-maker National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), ordered MR Sukhumband to be suspended from his governor duty.

Samak Sundaravej, of the former Prachakorn Thai Party, was the first Bangkok governor to garner more than a million votes. He was elected on July 23, 2000 with 1,016,096 votes in a turnout of 58.87%.

MR Sukhumband received the most-ever votes for Bangkok governor at 1,256,349 votes when he was re-elected in the 2013 election; the election saw him competing neck and neck against Pol Gen Pongsapat Pongcharoen, of the Pheu Thai Party, the general polling second with 1,077,899 votes in a turnout of 63.98%.

The oldest Bangkok governor was Pol Gen Aswin Kwanmuang who was 65 years old when he was appointed to City Hall's top post by the NCPO on Oct 18, 2016. He spent five years and 16 days in the post.

The youngest Bangkok governor was Apirak Kosayodhin from the Democrat Party. He was 43 years old when he was elected the capital's 14th governor in 2004 and was re-elected in 2008.

Today's election has the most-ever candidates with a total of 31 registered. Of them, 25 are independents. Two candidates were disqualified.