Voters in Bangkok go to polls to elect new governor

Voters in Thailand's capital Bangkok headed to the polls on Sunday to elect a new governor. A record-high 31 candidates entered the race.

Among them former Transport Minister Chadchart Sittipunt, whom opinion polls have marked as the strong front-runner, and Asawin Kwanmuang, who served as the appointed governor since 2016 until stepping down in March this year to contest the race.

Neither the main opposition party in parliament, Pheu Thai, nor the ruling Palang Pracharath party have candidates on the ballot. Bangkok is administratively a province as well as a city, and the only one where residents can choose their own governor, who is appointed elsewhere by the country's Interior Ministry.