Former Thai Stars Face Off In Don Mueang By-Election

[webfact]

BURNING ISSUE
Former stars face off in Don Mueang race
Budsarakham Sinlapalavan
The Nation


Yuranan

Two major parties have fielded former stars as their candidates in the Don Muang by-election.

BANGKOK: -- The vote will be held on June 16, after Karun Hosakul being given a red card by the Supreme Court's Election Division for framing Tankhun Jittitsara during their campaigning in the last election.

To recapture the parliamentary seat in Bangkok's Don Muang district, the Pheu Thai Party has endorsed Yuranan Pamornmontri as its candidate. Democrat Party executives have stood by their early decision to put Tankhun in the race.

Observers are asking: Why didn't Pheu Thai choose Karun's wife Pimchana Hosakul? And why did they choose Yuranan to stand in this by-election?

A reason is that Pimchana still has two years remaining in her term as a city councillor. So if in this by election Pheu Thai were to lose, it would in effect be losing two seats - local and national - especially as the winner from this by-election will have only two years left in the term.

Pheu Thai only needs someone who has a good image to challenge Tankhun so that it can delete the bad-boy image of Karun and replace him with a clean-looking MP. So the party selected lead actor Yuranan.

Both Yuranan and Tankhun are former actors. Yuranan, now 50, began his acting career a few decades ago. He has featured in more than 50 television dramas, 42 movies and six TV programme hostings, and has recorded 13 albums. His first movie was released in 1981 and the TV drama "Pid Rak" was aired in 1982.

He is best remembered for his role in the soap operas "Sed Thee Ngern Pon", "Kham Phaeng Hua Jai", "Salak Jit", and "Tad Daow Busaya".

However, Yuranan has been in politics for many years now. He served as an MP from 2005 to 2006 when Thaksin Shinawatra was prime minister. But in 2007 he lost in the general election. In January 2009, he was also defeated in the 15th Bangkok gubernatorial election by MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra. Then in 2011 he was elected as party-list MP again in a general election.

In replacing Karun, Yuranan presents an opposing image - courting little controversy. As an actor, he is well loved and portrays the image of a protagonist. He is married and has two children.

Tankhun was less popular than Yuranan on the entertainment scene. He played the characters of both good guys and bad guys. Yet he is confident he will not lose to the former heartthrob this time.

After making his debut in the TV soap opera "Thor Fhun Gub Mawin", Tankhun has risen to prominence. Although he has never portrayed a hero in any movie or TV series, he is a familiar face and has his own fan base.

In 2005, he won a TV game show, "Fanpantae" (The Real Fan Club) in a Sino-Thai ties episode. He later became the host for this programme.

When he decided to enter politics, Karun beat him in the July 2011 election.

However, Tankhun has not lost his courage. He believes he will win in the by-election because he has been working for Don Muang residents since the last general poll.

"I am confident I will win. After I lost in the 2011 general election, I continued to visit Don Muang people, especially during the flood crisis in 2011. I visited and helped them, so I think they know which politician will really work for them." He shrugged off the fact Don Muang district is seen as a stronghold of the Pheu Thai Party.

The candidacy registration will start next Tuesday, while election day is June 16. Both candidates-to-be have started to call on people.

Stars usually enjoy much love and admiration from the public when they are entertainers. But once they wade into politics, their good looks no longer count. They need to serve people to be admired.


-- The Nation 2013-05-21

[jcb2001]

This election will be decided by money and Pheu Thai wants this seat really bad.

[rubl]

If this seat is important to Pheu Thai there's a good chance we'll have the PM around for a change like when our dear Pol. Gen Pongsapat was a candidate in Bangkok.

Of course Ms. Yingluck will be present in her position of Pheu Thai party list #1 and not as PM.

[apetley]

Isn't it telling that for both candidates the article concentrates almost entirely on their onscreen credentials and says nothing of their personal political agenda.

Very sad indictment of the state of politics today.

Sent from my GT-I9003 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[JetsetBkk]

Please, webfact, check the size of your images before posting!

(I know this guy is relatively good looking, but some of your previous posts containing pictures of Thai politicians have scared me silly )

[SOTIRIOS]

...they frame the opposition...so they are given another chance......because they were caught.........???

.......what is the reasoning....good for the people..............???

[Halion]

That is all we need , more actors in Government.

[khunken]

That is all we need , more actors in Government.

Well it could be worse - more police hi-sos.

[Robby nz]

Was surprised that PT couldn't find a candidate outside their present crop of MP's.

Is this an indication of something, like they are running out of options or support ?

Yingluck will indeed be out in support but only out of office hours.

Be interesting to see what happens if PT lose and that is quite possible as the Dem candidate was only a few thousand votes behind last time and the Dems have won 2 recent by elections that they didn't really expect to win.

For sure there would be the same performance as in the BKK election

But will it signal a snap election before PT lose any more support.

Will watch with interest.

[ratcatcher]

Halion, I understand your sentiments but ,I've said this before and I'll say it again, these guys aren't actors they are soap opera stars.

That is all we need , more actors in Government.

They are usually good looking and cause great excitement among the female electorate.

Qualifications are secondary as looking good for the cameras is all important.

We have similar people in the western world.

Got himself kicked out...........Democrat candidate......Puea Thai Candidate.

[Bagwan]

These are two former stars? Or tsars?

They twinkle with all the luminance of a Toc H lamp.

[khaowong1]

I would imagine, though don't know for sure, that these "stars" probably know very little about politics, no more than the stars that run for office in the US.. except for Ronald Reagan of course. Arnold made a pretty good governor as did Jesse Ventura.. Clint was a pretty good mayor.. but by and large, most actors don't have a clue.

Edited May 21, 2013 by khaowong1

[clockman]

All the worlds a stage!!!