Exit polls have given Apirak a landslide victory, sweeping the city elections by more than 52 per cent of the votes.
Apirak Kosayothin's Profile:
Apirak, born on March 30, 1961, started his professional career at Pizza Hut on Suriwong Road in Bangkok, sweeping the floor and kneading pizza dough! He went on to become CEO of the entertainment conglomerate, GMM Grammy Plc before taking over as head of the telecom firm TA Orange (currently known as True Move). He was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Stock Exchange of Thailand.
He resigned from the mobile phone firm to enter the governors race in 2004. Mr Apirak is the first governor to come from the business sector, as previous governors were all civil officials, academics or politicians.
In the 2004 gubernatorial elections he won 40% of the votes, but this time he has received more than 50 percent votes, which shows that the Democrat party's popularity among Bangkok residents is growing.
The Nation's tally shows Apirak holding more than two-fold lead over his nearest rival from the People Power Party, Prapas Chongsa-nguan.
Source: The Nation
A Suan Dusit Poll says Bangkok residents prefer him because of his good performance and his hard work during the past four years, his policies, and his good behavior.
The Suan Dusit Poll said the strong contender from the Democrat Party had received 52.08 percent votes, followed by about 22.23 percent for Prapas.
Controversial massage tycoon Chuwit Kamolvisit comes in third with 12.10 percent votes, followed closely by Dr. Kriengsak Chareonwongsak (Dr. Dan) with 11.40 percent votes. Businesswoman Leena Jang finished in fifth place with around 7,145 votes.
Chuwit had also finished in the third place when he ran for Bangkok governor four years ago.
Vice Admiral Narong Chalothorn, chairman of the local election panel in Bangkok, said the unofficial turnout for Bangkok governor election on Sunday is only 54%. The Election Commission earlier expected the turnout to be around 70%. According to Vice Admiral Narong, there are a total of 4,087,000 eligible voters, and about 2,150,000 people have gone to vote on Sunday. In the previous Bangkok governor election four years ago, the turnout was at 62.5%.
