Four people, vying to become the mayor of the resort town of Pattaya in the election in May registered their candidacy this morning (Thursday) at Pattaya City Hall and drew lots for their candidate numbers.

The registrations for Pattaya city election candidates come at the same time as those in Bangkok, for the governor and city councilors. Elections in both cities are to be held on May 22nd.

The Pattaya City Permanent Secretary Pramote Taptim, in his capacity as the election director, said that, since Pattaya has not had an election for more than a decade, he would urge people to exercise their voting rights both for the new mayor and the 24 city councillors.

The four candidates and their numbers are:

• No 1, Poramase Ngampiches, We Love Pattaya group
• No 2, Sakchai Tanghoh
• No 3, Kittisak Nilwattanathochai, Move Forward Party
• No 4, Sinchai Wattanasartsathorn, Pattaya Ruam Jai group

Candidates for the councillor elections also registered.

Paramet said that he does not think his decision to seek a second term amount to monopolisation of the post, but there are many unfinished policies and projects which need to be continued, adding that the seaside resort town is a “mega city” which hosted about 18 million tourists a year before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kittisak, meanwhile, said that he worked with the previous city administration and found that the administration has failed to address numerous issues, economically and socially, which need to be dealt with, hence his decision to stand for Mayor.

The outgoing mayor, Sonthaya Khunpluem, said last week that he is confident that the candidate of the “We Love Pattaya” group will be the people’s choice, thanks to his administration’s performance over the past three and a half years.

The Khunpluem family dominated local politics in Chon Buri province, including Pattaya, for decades. In the 2019 general election, however, Sonthaya’s faction lost to his rival, the incumbent Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin of the Palang Pracharath party.