Apirak re-elected as Bangkok governor

Apirak Kosayodhin, the leader of Thailand's opposition Democrat Party, won re-election Sunday as governor of Bangkok, defeating the ruling party candidate as well as a one-time sex tycoon, exit polls showed.

The country's two most reliable polls showed Apirak leading by a large margin over Prapas Chongsa-nguan of the ruling People's Power Party and Chuwit Kamolvisit, former owner of a string of massage parlors who last week punched out a TV news anchor for asking confrontational questions.

If official results confirm the exit polls, Apirak, a former cell phone company executive, will serve another four years as governor, or mayor, of a metropolis that is both vibrant and beset by traffic jams, pollution and corruption scandals.
A Suan Dusit University exit poll showed Apirak with 52 percent of the vote, followed by Prapas with 23 percent and Chuwit with 12 percent. An Assumption University poll had similar figures.

Sukhum Chaleuysap of the Suan Dusit poll said Chuwit's popularity took a major plunge after his attack on the news anchor Thursday.

The People's Power Party, which leads the national ruling coalition, has been under attack by thousands of demonstrators who charge it serves as a proxy for former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 military coup for alleged corruption and now lives in exile in London.

Four million people were eligible to choose among 16 candidates in Sunday's voting. The unofficial population of Bangkok is estimated at over 13 million.

Official results were expected Monday.