Sompong Sainapa was re-elected as Najomtien’s mayor in a close vote hotly contested by supporters from both the former mayor and the leader of the Sattahip sub-district council.
Sompong, head of the Najomtien Development Group, beat Srinual Makmee of the Najomtien Group 1,966 to 1,918 in the June 26 balloting.
Supporters of both camps turned out early and stayed late to watch the vote count, at times cheering preliminary results and others getting into shouting matches that required police intervention.
Srinual’s supporters (foreground) cheer early, but it was Sompong’s supporters (background) who managed the last cheer when Sompong was re-elected mayor of Najomtien.
When Srinual took the lead after the first of three ballot boxes were counted, his supporters – who in 2010 elected 12 Najomtien Group members to the sub-district council – certainly felt they could take the mayor’s office as well. Sompong’s discouraged camp, however, saw its prospects brighten when vote counter Pritsana Yaembubpha protested that some ballots should be disqualified.
The ballot counters took a break to consider the messy ballots, which set off an argument between the candidates’ supporters. Najomtien police stepped in to separate the two groups.
Once the board agreed on which ballots to discount, counting continued and Sompong came back in the third box of votes, eking out a narrow victory.
Election Commissioner Patpong Matkasem said voter turnout was more than 72 percent, the highest level ever for Najomtien.
