The People’s Party (PP) has named its Bangkok councillor-elect in Bang Sue, Pattraporn Kengrungruengchai, its candidate for the chair of the new Bangkok city council.
The decision was announced at a press conference at the Future Forward Building on Tuesday by Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn, the party’s deputy leader. The party’s candidates swept 23 of the 50 seats in Sunday’s elections.
He appeared alongside Ms Pattraporn and 22 other councillors-elect to unveil their “urgent agenda”, comprising six priority policies to be executed during their first six months in office.
Mr Wiroj said the first priorities were safety at construction sites and new regulations for ageing buildings.
The PP would push for all construction sites in Bangkok to have surveillance cameras, be covered by insurance policies and follow safety guidelines.
Ageing buildings in Bangkok would be regulated under a new inspection standard and many used for the public benefit, for example as venues for affordable food courts or as parking areas for public transport vehicles, to help reduce traffic congestion.
The party also plans to amend council regulations to improve transparency by publishing voting records, project details and budget spending.
It will propose two special committees: one to study improvements to referrals under the universal healthcare scheme in Bangkok, and another to develop long-term solutions for waste management, including a review of operations at waste treatment plants in Prawet district.
For the 2027 Bangkok budget, the party plans to use artificial intelligence (AI) to screen projects for irregularities and publish information on neighbourhood developments, including budgets, contractors, construction progress and potential delays.
Mr Wiroj said this urgent agenda for the first six months requires a council chair who understands the city and upholds transparency.
Ms Pattraporn pledged to make council votes public and to livestream meetings, except where security concerns arise.
A special committee would also be formed to review long-term contracts worth more than 100 million baht, particularly those involving waste management, concessions and IT procurement.
She called on councillors from all parties to support the reforms and help build a more transparent, accessible and effective Bangkok council.
Meanwhile, the unofficial vote count from all 6,628 polling stations in the capital on June 28 showed that Chadchart Sittipunt won the gubernatorial election with 1,537,784 votes.
Over 2.3 million people voted on Sunday, out of 4.4 million eligible voters.