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.
Palang Chon candidates take to boats to hand out leaflets promoting their political platform.
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.”
