Thailand’s capital overwhelmingly voted for an independent to be its new governor in the first election in almost a decade, with the winner facing the challenges of rebuilding Bangkok’s pre-pandemic status as a tourism hub and tackling persistent pollution.
Chadchart Sittipunt, a former transport minister who consistently led pre-election surveys, was ahead with almost 52% of the vote with 60% of the ballots counted, according to unofficial results from the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority. An estimated 64% of the city’s 4.4 million voters exercised their franchise, official data showed.
