Bangkok to choose governor on Sunday (May 22) as national election looms

In this file photo taken on April 5, 2022, Thailand's former transport minister Chadchart Sittipunt (left) speaks with residents as he campaigns as an independent candidate in the upcoming Bangkok gubernatorial election, in Pathum Wan district in Bangkok. The capital goes to the polls on Sunday (May 22) to choose a new governor for the first time in nearly a decade, with the front-runner promising to clean up the congested, polluted, flood-prone megalopolis. - AFP

BANGKOK, May 20, 2022 (AFP): Millions of Bangkok voters will elect a new governor on Sunday (May 22) in the first major polls since pro-democracy protests rattled Thailand's capital, with a former minister ousted in the 2014 military coup leading the race.

The poll comes as embattled Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha fights to hold his ruling national coalition together until a general election due within 12 months.