Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra announced on Saturday that he will run for a second term as head honcho of the Thai capital next year.
Sukhumbhand, who has eight months left on his current term, said he is ready to run for a second if the Democrat Party chooses him as their candidate. He made the announcement from Washington DC, where he’s visiting to endorse sister city status between the Thai and American capitals.
Sukhumbhand had been criticized recently by the rival Pheu Thai Party of a long-term contract for the operation of the BTS so close to the end of his term. He said that he wants to continue his work as governor though, especially on a “new monorail system”, according to The Bangkok Post.
Sukhumbhand, if selected as the Democrat Party’s candidate, will most likely face the Pheu Thai Party’s Information and Communication Technology Minister Anudith Nakornthap or Science and Technology Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi, considered the frontrunner for Pheu Thai.
If it does flood in Bangkok this year, handling of the situation by Sukhumbhand and Plodprasop will be highly scrutinized and serve as a major factor in the 2013 governor elections. Plodprasob predicted this recently that Bangkok will definitely not flood this year.
Sukhumbhand, elected 15th governor of Bangkok in 2009, was educated at Oxford University in the UK and Georgetown University in the US. He has been a Democrat MP since 1996 and previously served s deputy minister of foreign affairs between 1997 and 2001.
