Pattaya's mayor election race is now underway

[Gaybutton]

I hope whichever of the candidates wins it won't be yet another everything changes, but nothing changes.

It didn't take long for the blaring, extremely loud (and annoying) political campaign advertising trucks to get started, at least in my neighborhood. That degree of high volume at 8:00am was something I, for one, neither appreciated nor welcomed. Nevertheless, that's how it's done around here.

The election will be Sunday, June 28. As always, alcohol sales will be banned from Saturday evening, the 27th, until the polls close on the 28th. That ban will likely include the bars, so buy your booze before the 27th. The rules forbid buying and selling alcohol during the ban, but I no of no rules prohibiting drinking alcohol you already have.
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Pattaya City Election Candidate Registration Closes with 5 Mayoral Hopefuls

By Adam Judd

June 2, 2026

Candidate registration for the Pattaya City Mayor and City Council elections officially ended on Monday, June 1, 2026, at 4:30 p.m., with no additional candidates submitting applications on the final day.

Mr. Kiattisak Sriwongchai, Pattaya City Clerk and Director of the Pattaya City Election Commission, formally announced the closure of registration at the Thappphraya Meeting Room on the 4th floor of Pattaya City Hall.

Registration had been open from May 28 to June 1, 2026, at the same venue between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., in accordance with regulations set by the Election Commission of Thailand (ECT). Officials reported that the entire five-day process ran smoothly and transparently under close supervision by the Pattaya Election Coordination Center and relevant committees, with all procedures strictly following election laws.

Mayoral Candidates
A total of five candidates registered for Pattaya City Mayor:

– No. 1: Mr. Itthiwat Wattanasaathorn
– No. 2: Mr. Poramese Ngamphichet
– No. 3: Mr. Sakchai Taengho
– No. 4: Mr. Suwainee Charoensuk
– No. 5: Dr. Itthiphon Nethiyukup Singkhraekaeo

In order by number are their photos: - click the link below if you wish to see the photos.

The Pattaya City Mayor and City Council elections are scheduled for Sunday, June 28th, 2026. Polling stations will be open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eligible voters are urged to check their names on the voter list and exercise their voting rights at their designated polling station. Alcohol sales per Thai law will be banned from the evening before until polls close on election day.

Authorities encourage residents to study the candidates’ backgrounds and policies ahead of election day under the theme “Unite with Integrity, Vote Transparently, Together Build Pattaya.”

For more information, contact the Chonburi Provincial Election Commission Office at 038-467892, the Pattaya City Election Coordination Center at 038-253122 (during office hours), or the ECT hotline at 1444.

https://thepattayanews.com/2026/06/02/p ... -hopefuls/

[Jun]

Well, I look forward to your analysis of the candidates. There is a lot of low hanging fruit to go after.

[Gaybutton]

Well, I look forward to your analysis of the candidates.

Now that Thaksin has been pardoned, maybe he'll run. If he wins I don't know how good he might be, but at least his tenure in office would be rather interesting . . .

The only mayor in recent memory that I can recall - I forgot his name - is the mayor who had that Sukhumvit tunnel built at Pattaya Klang (Central Road) which, in my opinion, was built in the wrong place. I think it should have been built at the Pattaya Tai intersection. Either that, or 3 Sukhumvit tunnels should have been built - one at Pattaya Klang, one at Pattaya Tai, and one at Thepprasit Road. It is those 3 intersections that have always had the most traffic problems - and still do.

Other than that, I can't think of anything significant that changed as a result of anything a mayor has done in all the years I've lived here, but I can think of plenty I wish they had done.

My opinion - To me it doesn't matter which candidate wins. I don't expect anything to be likely to change anyway.

No.2 is the current mayor of Pattaya. I have never heard of the other candidates. We'll see if the voters want a different mayor or want to continue the status quo.

If I could vote, no matter what his qualifications might be, whichever candidate sends the most of those sound trucks up and down my soi would be one candidate who does not get my vote.