Palang Chon candidates
take to boats to hand out leaflets promoting their political platform.
Theerarak
Suthathiwong
With July 3’s parliamentary elections less than a
month away, Chonburi’s powerful Kunplome family brought out its top
executives in a push to get the family-backed “Chonburi Power” party
candidates elected to office.
Pattaya Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome; his brother
Wittaya, the head of the Chonburi Administrative Organization; and their
mother Satil, who heads Chonburi’s Women’s Development Committee, were
all on hand June 5 in Sriracha for a rally to help elect Sukumol
Kunplome to parliament. Sukomol is the wife of eldest Kunplome son
Sonthaya, former minister of tourism and sports.
At the evening campaign stop at the Public Health
Park on Koh Loi, the Kunplomes pledged support for two new Chonburi
universities to teach tourism and sports. They also proposed Thailand
create a Ministry of Border Trade.
Phansak Ketwattha, Wittaya Kunplome’s No. 2 official
at the Chonburi Football Club, said he’s going door-to-door in his bid
for a Zone 5 seat, telling residents of Bang Phra district he knows what
local Chonburi residents want and will work for them.
He acknowledged that numerous people affiliated with
former political parties and groups had not been “unable to serve as
public representatives,” but now, he said, there are new faces to vote
for.
Sukumol urged Sriracha residents to vote for
“Chonburi Power” Party candidates, as they can best serve the area, she
said. She said the Palang Chon party will cooperate with whatever ruling
party takes office, as it did with both Thaksin’s party and, more
recently, ruling coalition partner Bhum Jai Thai.
Itthiphol, in his speech, said he hopes that a
Chonburi MP can one day become the Prime Minister, which would be a
first for the province. He said Palang Chon candidates have been
approached by officials by both the Pheu Thai and Democratic Party and,
if elected, the Palang Chon MPs may be in a powerful position to help
the province.
The Kunplome campaign bus rolled on to the Pattaya
Floating Market June 8, where candidates proposed policies to make
Pattaya one of Asia’s top tourism cities.
Here Satil Kunplome introduced Zone 7 candidate
Poramet Ngampichet, son of former MP Santsak Ngampiches and also a party
list candidate along with former Pattaya Mayor Niran Wattanasartsathorn,
who hopes to represent Zone 6.
The candidates took to boats to distribute leaflets
and meet voters.
Poramet outlined Palang Chon’s platform, which consists of management
of water resources, tourism, sports, culture, education, public health,
infrastructure and “economic equilibrium.”
