Bangkok votes for governor as Chadchart eyes record term amid urban woes

Bangkok residents began voting on Sunday for governor of the Southeast Asian megacity, with Chadchart Sittipunt tipped to return to City Hall to steer a capital blighted by floods, traffic and pollution.Over 4.5 million Bangkokians are eligible to vote for the governor and 50 council members who will run the city authority.Chadchart, 60, a former transport minister and engineering lecturer, led the polls ahead of Sunday’s ballot, as a man affectionately dubbed “Hulk” seeks a second four-year term to administer a city that remains among the most visited and vibrant in the region.Among the country’s most recognisable politicians, he has run a typically energetic campaign, going door-to-door in working-class communities in the frenetic last days of stumping, meeting Bangkok’s influential Thai Sikh community and running through the city’s central sprawl.Arriving to cast his vote on Sunday on his bicycle, a smiling Chadchart implored voters to pour to the polls and beat the 60 per cent turnout last time.“It’s a beautiful day today … I got up early, I’ve had a run already. I hope people will come out and use their right to vote to choose the one they like,” he told reporters.