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caronte
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So it's official: Chuwit, aka Mr Davis, is aiming to the Governor' seat!
Seems that he will use his "young and beautiful" employees to help him during the campaign (I've already sent my application for any other position available).....if Terminator can be Governor of Kali, I don't see why the MP tycoon shall not be the same in Bangkok!
I'd like to invite all the brothers of BTF married with a Thai to suggest her and her family to vote for Chuwit, not only for he's the funniest guy out there!
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 8:46 pm on April 22, 2004
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ThaidUp
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I would not laugh this one off. I think he has a serious chance of winning. The same conditions apply here that occurred in the USA to allow the terminator and a WWF wrestler to win governor ships. People are fed up with Thaskin party and the popularity of the party is starting to slip with the troubles in the South, chicken flu cover-up and not the subway advertising scam. It is not the Thai Loving Thai party any more, but the Thaskin Loving Taskin party and the Bankokians who are more independent in thinking may vote in a showman like Chuwit.
Great idea Caronte. So Chuwit already has one vote.
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Bangkok Women : Meet Sensual Bangkok Women
Posted on: 9:25 pm on April 22, 2004
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caronte
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Oh, btw, I've already "asked" to all my Thai staff to vote for him: the male staff agreed at once, the female after a promise for a Company' dinner......
Go Chuwit Go & make of Bangkok a better place!
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Sexy Bangkok Girls
Posted on: 10:17 pm on April 22, 2004
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ThaidUp
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Figures, you just have to pay TG's for everything.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 10:27 pm on April 22, 2004
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Arcadius
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And no guarantee they'll deliver. What he doesn't know won't hurt him, they'll reckon.
Not that they'll have cheated him, because he still gets to feel good about doing all he could to help Chuwit, and that's the important thing. In fact, the more they think about it, the more they realise they sold themselves too cheaply. Never mind, they certainly won't make that mistake again with supporters of the other candidates...
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Bangkok Women : Meet Beautiful Thai Girls
Posted on: 10:56 pm on April 22, 2004
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Hermanolobo
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Apirak In A Landslide Victory
Published on Aug 30, 2004
The Nation
Democrat bags 40% | Pavena 26% | Chuwit 15%
Democrat Party candidate Apirak Kosayodhin was set to score a
resounding victory in the Bangkok governor election yesterday, beating
Pavena Hongsakul in a contest perceived by many as a barometer of
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's popularity in the capital.
Apirak was leading comfortably in official tallies in the majority of
districts after 80 per cent of votes were counted, leaving Pavena, who
ran as an independent candidate but received tacit backing from the
Thai Rak Thai party, lagging far behind in second place.
At press time, Apirak had received 742,000 votes, or 40.6 per cent, of
the total cast, while Pavena had garnered 487,000 votes, or 26.6 per
cent.
Massage-parlour king Chuwit Kamolvisit was coming third with 269,000
votes, or 14.7 per cent, and veteran politician Chalerm Yoo-bamrung
was next with 135,000 votes, or 7.3 per cent.
Columnist Nitipoom Naowarat was the fifth most popular candidate,
gaining 110,000 votes, or 6 per cent, followed by former governor
Bhichit Rattakul, who received 82,000 votes, or 4.4 per cent.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration reported that the voter
turnout was 62 per cent, which translates into 2.4 million out of 3.9
million eligible voters.
"I thank all those who turned out to exercise their voting power, no
matter who they cast ballots for," Apirak said as the unfinished count
indicated that victory belonged to him.
He said he would place solving the capital's traffic problems at the
top of his agenda and fully cooperate with the government on the
issue.
Thaksin congratulated Apirak, saying the government would support the
newly elected Democrat in running the city.
He then added a cautionary word of warning, mentioning that a lack of
cooperation from the new governor would result in major problems.
The prime minister also denied that the Democrats' triumph would shake
his party's voter bases in Bangkok ahead of the upcoming general
election.
Pavena's defeat after receiving Thaksin's tacit blessing has been
interpreted as a humiliation for his party by those who saw it as
representing his failed attempt to ward off a Democrat victory.
In a last bid to round up support, Thaksin toured Bangkok's polluted
canals on Saturday, just one day before the election, to underscore
his government's plans to ease pollution and traffic congestion in the
city.
The links between Pavena and the party were confirmed by certain
members of her team, who function in both camps and were hoping to
become deputy city governors.
Thawatchai Sajjakul is a former Thai Rak Thai MP, while police
spokesman Pongsaphat Pongcha-roen was recently appointed by Thaksin to
take charge of the capital's traffic operations.
Several Bangkok TRT MPs also joined Pavena on campaign strolls
throughout the week.
Leading Bangkok TRT members expressed concern earlier about the
government's subtle championing of Pavena, saying the party had
inadvertently damaged its own image.
It promoted the public belief that Thaksin was on a single-minded
mission to obtain absolute power on all political fronts, they said.
Their statements that this was not conducive to winning over Bangkok's
voters appeared to fall on deaf ears.
As Apirak was poised to assume the helm, rivals Chalerm and Chuwit
voiced a common view of the underlying significance of yesterday's
results.
"Bangkokians are fed up with Thai Rak Thai," Chalerm said.
He believed many voters had been alienated from his campaign after
some TRT local councillors had assisted him in the run-up to the
election.
Chuwit said many voters may have defected to Apirak's side out of
sympathy after Thaksin began promulgating his support for Pavena.
"They felt Thaksin should have remained neutral rather than taking
sides," Chuwit said.
He believed the prime minister had a limited understanding of the
people of Bangkok.
In a display of good sportsmanship, Pavena held a press conference
after the ballot boxes were closed at 3pm during which she
congratulated Apirak on his success.
She later switched her public stance from gracefully accepting defeat
to focussing on the slim possibility that media surveys had
miscalculated Apirak's win.
Holding out hope that she still had a chance of taking Bangkok's top
post, Pavena said she would wait for the official result before making
further comments.
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Apirak remains cool and calm as the day unfolds
Patima Kosayodhin began her husband's big day with a cup of coffee
before she, Apirak and their only son, Anat, left their condominium at
President Park to vote.
It was just 8am when Bangkok governor candidate Apirak, in a crisp
white shirt, finished voting in Klong Toey district. He and his family
then went home for a proper breakfast of "Kao thom kai" [rice soup
with chicken] and relaxed in front of TV.
After a lunch of dim sum, Apirak changed into a dark blue shirt before
driving to the Democrat Party's office around 3pm.
Apirak watched quietly and calmly alongside his family and fellow
Democrats, including party leader Banyat Bantadtan and deputy leader
Abhisit Vejjajiva, as well as hundreds of reporters and cameramen, as
the results of the vote counting started to trickle in.
The party set up a giant TV projector in the office courtyard to watch
media reports of the vote counting, with a quick break to catch Thai
boxer Worapoj Petkhum's finals bout at the Athens Olympics.
Once Apirak's victory became apparent, he went first to pay respects
to the statue of the Goddess of Earth, the Democrats' symbol, before
being mobbed immediately by TV reporters. He looked tired, his face
glistening as he answered the same questions again and again for the
many channels.
Asked why he didn't wear a light blue shirt as he has done throughout
his campaigning, Apirak joked that he was afraid that might go against
the electoral laws. "But, white and dark-blue can mix perfectly into
[light] blue as well," he countered.
His wife Patima stayed constantly by Apirak's side. She also looked
tired, but kept a gentle smile on her lips while fixing her eyes on
her husband during his interviews.
"I cannot help Apirak much when he serves as a governor because I have
my household duties to take care of," she told the media later. "But I
will support him in every way."
Apirak told reporters his first priorities on taking up the post of
Bangkok governor: "I will implement my key policies regarding traffic,
environment and security."
Thanyaporn Kunakornpaiboonsiri
THE NATION
------------
Turnout reaches 62%
More than 62 per cent of eligible voters in Bangkok went to the polls
yesterday, a higher turnout than in the previous governor election
four years ago, but well below the official forecast of 70 per cent.
As many as 2.47 million people, or 62.5 per cent of eligible voters,
cast their ballots at 5,999 polling stations throughout the city
yesterday, according to Khunying Nathanon Thaweesin, permanent
secretary of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA).
City authorities earlier said they expected a voter turnout of 70 per
cent.
In the previous governor election, on July 23, 2000, 2.24 million
people - or 58.9 per cent of eligible voters - exercised their right
to vote.
Nathanon told reporters yesterday evening that Thawee Watthana saw the
highest percentage of voter turnout among all of Bangkok's 50
districts, at 68.4 per cent, while Klong Toei district had the lowest,
52.2 per cent.
Samphanthawong, an inner-city district with the lowest number of
eligible voters, was the first to begin counting votes, after all of
its ballots arrived at the district office.
---
Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com
Chuwit
The Chuwit ‘phenomenon': gone tomorrow?
By Tulsathit Taptim
The Nation
Published on Aug 31, 2004
I can't wait to see Chuwit Kamolvisit take that extra step and wreak
havoc in national politics. No, I'm not a big fan of his. In fact –
with all due respect to everyone who voted for him on Sunday – I
detest the man. I really do. (Sorry, Chuwit, but since you sounded
pretty sincere during your election campaign, I figure you deserve my
honesty, too.)
That more than 330,000 people cast their ballots for him is no
surprise. (Actually, in my worst nightmare, there had been a lot
more). Yes, many of us wanted to teach Thaksin Shinawatra a lesson,
but were bored to death by the Democrat Party, and Chuwit was a sexy
choice. I understand and admire the "protest" or "defiant" votes. The
only thing that baffles me is the argument that he is some kind of a
"new political phenomenon".
Maybe I'm missing something here, but here's a man who became rich
through "notorious" businesses and, by his own account, bribing state
authorities along the way. He entered politics at a time when his
interests were threatened and seemingly needed some kind of protection
and redemption. Does all of this sound a bit too familiar? Yes, he
"exposed" the police. But that was only after he was charged with
masterminding the razing of the Sukhumvit Plaza beer bars early last
year, which led to open and behind-the-scenes conflicts with top
police officials. Would he have shown such "courage" had the unlawful
eviction gone his way and his interests not been at stake? For
decades, the Thai Parliament has been a place where the likes of local
"godfathers" or corrupt businessmen whitewash themselves, in order to
protect and enhance their interests. They come with a similar
proclaimed mission – to "repay" their motherland.
Only Chuwit said he wanted to turn over a new leaf. And another
difference is he's charming and one of the world's best and most
sophisticated public-relations experts. He is funny, a bit crazy and
sounds rather frank. His strongest selling point is he's not hiding
from his bad deeds. "I can't get any worse than this," he told voters
during his campaign, and they simply loved it.
He has apparently been very honest and up-front about his past. But
one can't help feeling that the man may have been resorting to reverse
psychology. Wholehearted confessions sometimes generate sympathy and
get people off the hook. This works even greater wonders in politics,
where lies and secrets are common, and self-bashing non-existent. His
most powerful message to voters: "I'm bad, but who isn't? And you need
me to handle that lot on your behalf."
Isn't our Parliament full of such "brave" men already – ones who will
exercise their "conscience" selectively and be motivated not by
principles, but rather by vengeance or vested interests? What
difference will Chuwit make? His clash with the police made him a hero
in many people's eyes. But didn't Chalerm Yoobamrung do similar things
when his sons got into trouble with the police? Chuwit may have guts,
but I wouldn't call it "courage". While he may not try to "hide" from
his past, which seems inescapable anyway, he may try to seek refuge in
politics like many others before him.
He is exciting and fascinating because he's not yet in the mainstream.
It's a new love affair for Bangkokians, and understandably this is a
time when positives are magnified, and we tend to turn a blind eye to
all of the flaws. But Chuwit, buoyed by the phenomenal support Bangkok
gave to one typical tycoon-turned-politician, has declared he's here
to stay.
Let's get this straight. The man deserves a second chance, as well as
the benefit of the doubt. That's why I stated in the beginning that I
can't wait to watch him go at the national level. Thai politics has
seen so many characters, and they have all had one thing in common:
they seemed so unique at the beginning, only to display similar traits
as time goes by. I really want Chuwit to prove me wrong. If he truly
is sincere about starting a new life, then good luck to him. It will
be tough. Once the honeymoon is over, his opponents will be out to get
him. I'm not questioning whether he will survive, because he very
likely will, but it's the manner of his survival that will convince me
whether he is a real phenomenon or not.
Tulsathit Taptim is managing editor of The Nation.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 5:20 am on Aug. 31, 2004
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hzink
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60% of eligible voters turned out, at a number of 2.4 million?
Isn't the population of Bangkok around 10 million? So, what makes someone eligible to vote? I doubt the remaining 7.6 million are all punters. 
Harry
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Thai Girls : Meet Active Thai Girls
Posted on: 11:44 am on Aug. 31, 2004
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bkkz
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The others are from elsewhere... Isaan mainly.
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Thai Women : Meet Matured Thai Women
Posted on: 2:00 pm on Aug. 31, 2004
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Packripper
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You can't vote in Bangkok unless you're on a Bangkok house registry. BK is right, a huge number of Bangkok residents don't ahve the right to vote in local elections.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 2:13 pm on Aug. 31, 2004
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