Bangkok gives Chadchart record-breaking mandate with over 1.3m votes

He came away with 1,386,769 votes, with Democrats’ Suchatvee Suwansawat and Move Forward’s Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn trailing far behind with 254,723 and 253,938, respectively.

The former transport minister who was once Pheu Thai Party’s prime ministerial candidate even broke Democrat Sukhumbhand Paribatra’s record, who won in 2013 with 1,256,349 votes.

Sukhumbhand was followed by Pheu Thai’s Pongsapat Pongcharoen with 1,077,899 votes and independent Sereepisuth Temeeyaves with 166,582 votes.

Meanwhile, Chadchart promises to make “Bangkok, a liveable city for everyone” with his 214 policies under nine “good” categories. They are:

1. Good safety

• Designate areas at risk of crimes, traffic and disaster

• Set up a command centre to tackle disaster

• Check for damaged roads and power outages

2. Good travel

• Install a smart traffic management system to facilitate traffic

• Improve public transport, as well as increase main and minor bus lines at cheap fares

• Discuss BTS Green Line issues to reduce the burden on people

• Improve pavements

3. Good health

• Enable Bangkok hospitals to access patients' medical history to improve medical treatment

• Improve Health Service Centres' potential

• Implement telemedicine service

• Increase exercise areas and sports grounds

4. Good creative

• Change Bangkok City Hall and Lan Khon Muang Town Square into a museum and creative space

• Organise open-air art exhibitions to attract people

• Set up a database on government and private areas to facilitate public activities

5. Good environment

• Plant trees to boost green areas and tackle air pollution

• Hire arborists to take care of trees in each district

• Launch a project to detect black exhaust smoke

• Launch a project to manage waste

6. Good structure

• Rearrange city structure

• Improve infrastructure

• Create jobs

• Reduce congestion in the city

• Launch a project to dredge pipes and canals

• Set up high-quality water pumps

• Reduce flood-prone areas

• Seek natural flood-intake areas

7. Good management

• Develop tracking systems for applications with Bangkok agencies

• Amend Bangkok related canons

• Enable people to participate in budgeting

• Allow people to assess Bangkok district directors and governor

8. Good education

• Open schools on holidays as activity and learning spaces for students and community members

• Extend school hours to match with parents' working hours

• Organise creative activities from speakers inside and outside schools

• Add foreign language courses

• Apply technologies in schools, so students’ skills can be built up for the future

9. Good economy

• Build a creative economy across Bangkok

• Promote Bangkok districts to stimulate the grassroots economy

• Improve street vendors' quality of life

• Increase access to financial resources

• Provide technical assistance and create trade venues

• Launch a project to create a Made in Bangkok brand

• Select and develop products from manufacturers in Bangkok

• Promote and expand products in e-commerce markets

Chadchart’s policies can be accessed via https://www.chadchart.com/policy/.