The 2022 Pattaya City council election was held on 22 May 2022 to elect the mayor of Pattaya, as well as the members of the city council. The election took place on the same day as the gubernatorial election in Bangkok, and was the first local election held in Pattaya since June 2012.
Out of 38,320 registered voters, there was only a 49.96% turnout, far below the goal of 70%. The election was won by Poramet Ngampichet of the Rao Rak Pattaya party with 14,349 votes.
Background.
Pattaya is a special governed city in Thailand and is administered by a mayor who leads the executive branch of the council, with Pattaya being the only local area except Bangkok to elect their own local leader. The first election was held in 2004.
The role of mayor has been held the longest by the Khunpluem family, with past mayor Itthiphol Khunpluem serving as mayor from 2008 to 2016. Itthiphol won the last election held in Pattaya in 2012, and served until his term ended in 2016, he was replaced by Chanatpong Sriwiset and then Anan Charoenchasri, who were both appointed by the National Council for Peace and Order as a result of the 2014 coup which suspended all elections. Prayut Chan-o-cha then appointed Sontaya Kunplome as mayor of Pattaya on 26 September 2018.
Sontaya is the older brother of Itthiphol, and both are part of the Kunplome political family which previously dominated politics in Chonburi province. However, the 2019 general election showed a shift when three Palang Pracharath candidates backed by Sontaya were defeated by the Future Forward party.
On 9 September 2021, a cabinet meeting approved holding local elections in Bangkok and Pattaya, directing the Election Commission to begin planning with funding from the Ministry of the Interior. The Election Commission then announced on March 14 that the date of the Pattaya and Bangkok elections would be held on May 22.
Elections in Pattaya often see low voter turnouts: 51.1% in the 2004 election, 51% in the 2008 election, and 41.5% in the 2012 election. 5 million baht is allocated to the election from the Ministry of Interior.
Campaign issues.
One of the biggest issues in the election was the COVID-19 pandemic and how a new mayor would handle the pandemic's effects. As a major tourist city, Pattaya was hit hard by the effects of low tourist numbers and the economic fallout of it. Flooding caused by heavy rain and aggravated by Climate Change, was another major issue that marked Sontaya's term as mayor where he implemented the NEO Pattaya project to increase the city's drainage system. Other issues included Pattaya's infrastructure, such as roads, and how it would keep up with the flow of tourists in the future; as well as water supply for residents on the outskirks of Pattaya.
Candidates.
The Rao Rak Pattaya party (English: We Love Pattaya) had been the ruling party before the election, with mayor Sontaya Kunplome as its leader. In the election, they nominated Poramet Ngampichet, who had served as a Member of Parliament for Chonburi province, and recently as vice-Minister of Culture until his resignation on 14 March 2022. Sontaya did not contest the election as he instead planned to contest a seat in the 2023 general elections, although there was speculation he would run again.
The Pattaya Ruam Jai party is led by former mayor Nirun Wattanasartsaton, who served from 2004 to 2008 as the first elected mayor of Pattaya. His party fielded Sinchai Watthasartsathorn as its candidate, who is also the brother of Nirun.
The Progressive party fielded Kittisak Nilvattanachai as its candidate, which it revealed on 14 March 2022. Kittisak is local who was previously a photographer and businessman. The Progressive party is headed by Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, who was the Future Forward party's candidate in the 2019 general election. However, the party was subsequently dissolved in 2020. Thanathorn then formed the Progressive Party with Piyabutr Saengkanokkul.
Sakchai Tanghor ran in the election as an independent.
Candidate registration for the election was open from 31 March to 4 April, although on 31 March, all four candidates registered at Pattaya City hall and were placed on the ballot in the following order:
Election.
Campaign.
On 12 February, Thanathorn visited Pattaya where he met with business owners and surveyed the economic situation of the city as a result of COVID-19. His Progressive party campaign theme was "reclaiming Pattaya for everyone".
Polls conducted for the election consistently showed Poramet as the favoured candidate. Poramet and his party ran on the policies of boosting tourism by increasing tourist events and adding more local landmarks, as well as opening up a mangrove forest in Na Kluea to tourists.
The Pattaya Ruam Jai party made its final campaign in Na Kluea where they carried a banner calling for voters who want change to vote for Sinchai and council candidates 13 to 18.
As required by law, there was a 24-hour ban on the sale of alcohol on election day, 22 May.
Results.
Poramet won the election with 14,349 of the 38,320 votes, allowing his party to hold all 24 council seats. Sinchai Watthasartsathorn and the Pattaya Ruam Jai party came in second with 12,477 votes; followed by Kittisak Nilwatthanathochai with 8,759 votes; and Sakchai Tanghor with 990 votes. Of the 38,320 votes cast, only 36,575 (95.45%) of them were valid, with 1,001 (2.61%) being counted as invalid and 744 (1.94%) as "no votes".
However, the election had to be held again at polling stations No 2 in Constituency 1, and No 20 in Constituency 4 due to them missing one set of ballot papers for the election. Polling stations No 29 in Constituency 2 and No 5 in Constituency 3 instead experienced a surplus of extra ballot papers. Despite the recount, they had little effect on the winner, who remained Poramet.