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DON MUANG BY-ELECTION
Race shaping as an all-star affair
Attayuth Bootsripoom
The Nation



Former actor Yuranan to be Pheu Thai nominee to run against Democrat Tankhun on June 16

BANGKOK: -- A month from now, Bangkok's Don Muang district will become the battlefield of former movie stars representing the two major parties in a House by-election.

The Pheu Thai Party is pitting Yuranan Pamornmontri against Tankhun Jittitsara from the opposition Democrats.

Don Muang is a large seat and a stronghold of the ruling Pheu Thai Party. The by-election was called for June 16 after the Supreme Court disqualified Pheu Thai's candidate in the area, Karun Hosakul.

The Democrats' choice of Tankhun came as no surprise as he was the runner-up to Karun in the 2011 general election, falling about 7,000 votes short. On the other hand, Pheu Thai's selection was hard to guess.

Speculation first focused on former Thai Rak Thai MP Sudarat Keyuraphan, known as the party's Bangkok faction leader, but she declared publicly on Monday that she was devoting herself fully to the restoration of the birthplace of the Lord Buddha in India.

Then Sqd Ldr Sita Divari, a member of Sudarat's faction, came up on the radar screen, but he was ruled out because he has just become the chairman of Airports of Thailand Plc and could be criticised for hastily abandoning the important post to run for a House seat.

Hunt for best candidate

Karun's wife Pimchana would be a logical preference but she is a Bangkok councillor for Don Muang.

If she resigned to contest the MP by-election, the Election Commission would have to hold a by-election for her vacant seat and this might expose her to attack from the Democrats for wasting the national budget.

With the strong names eliminated, it was not easy for Pheu Thai to find a suitable candidate as Karun had set the conditions that the person must not be a red-shirt leader and must come from the Sudarat faction.

Party sources say Pheu Thai is now backing Yuranan, who is close to Sudarat, Karun and Panthongtae Shinawatra, the son of former prime minister Thaksin.

Yuranan, now a party-list MP, has a good image, unlike the bad-boy image of Karun.

His good image and celebrity status should help him to be a strong contender for Tankhun, a new-generation candidate with a clean image.

If Yuranan resigns as a party-list MP, Pheu Thai can promote the next party-list candidate in line to take his place, so the party would not suffer a huge loss. Yuranan used to be a heartthrob actor.

He earned a doctorate in public administration from Eastern Asia University, then won a House seat in Bangkok's Constituency 11 as a Thai Rak Thai candidate and has served as a deputy government spokesman. He lost to the Democrats' Sukhumbhand Paribatra in the 2009 Bangkok governor's election.

But, with the backing of local hero Karun, he now stands a good chance of emerging victorious in the Don Muang by-election.


-- The Nation 2013-05-15

[OzMick]

<deleted>! Are these people serious? Yuranan is resigning as an MP so that he can re-apply for the same position. If ever there was reason to get rid of the party list, this is one.

[Chao Lao Beach]

Being a Thai TV soap actor should be in its own right to be banned !!! All they do is promote rape, guns, murder and women slapping and those bloody ghost that my inlaws keep taking advice from !

[bigbamboo]

Sounds more like X Factor than an election.

[ballpoint]

Being a Thai TV soap actor should be in its own right to be banned !!! All they do is promote rape, guns, murder and women slapping and those bloody ghost that my inlaws keep taking advice from !

So what's the difference (apart from the ghosts) between a Thai soap opera star and a Thai MP?

Edited May 15, 2013 by ballpoint

[Baerboxer]

Does this candidate meet all the residential requirements required to stand as an MP for the Don Mueang constituency?

Of course he must, silly me, PTP would never break the rules.

[Robby nz]

But, with the backing of local hero Karun

I thought he was banned from taking part in politics for 5 years?

What is he doing backing anyone in a political election?