UDD co-leaders congratulated Mr Sukhumband on a fair and clean victory in Bangkok’s gubernatorial elections on Sunday.

Dr Weng said,

We would like to congratulate Mr Sukhumband and welcome him again as the governor of Bangkok.

The UDD leadership welcomed the election as proof that good democratic practice is getting stronger in Bangkok.

Dr Weng added,

We want to thank Bangkokians for defying the rain and going out to vote. It is crucial for us to express this right because, in so doing, we strengthen democracy in Thailand.

Although many Red Shirts were disappointed with the final result after exit polls had put Pheu Thai candidate Ponsapat Pongcharoen in the lead, UDD co-leaders reacted positively to the marked increase in support for the Pheu Thai candidate since the last election.

Moreover, UDD co-leaders were proud of Red Shirt volunteers that observed the elections and ensured that it proceeded according to the rules.

Approximately 12,000 Red Shirt volunteers were on the ground at polling stations across Bangkok to monitor the gubernatorial election on Sunday. Any irregularities were to be reported to UDD headquarters, where more than 200 Red Shirts were answering their calls. The Red Shirts at the headquarters were divided into 50 phone stations, each responsible for a set of voting stations with which they remained in constant contact.

Several incidents were reported during the course of the day, most involving voters being turned away from their assigned voting stations and told they had to vote elsewhere. However, beyond these and other minor incidents, as well as the downpour of rain that affected Bangkok around noon, Sunday’s elections progressed relatively smoothly.

In the evening, results showed that Mr Sukhumband, the incumbent candidate on the Democrat Party ticket, had won the election.

Red Shirt volunteers man phones at UDD headquarters

Red Shirts gather around the television to watch the live election results