Pongsathon Sornphetnarin, the Move Forward Party’s candidate, won in the by-election for Rayong’s 3rd Constituency on Sunday (10 September), beating the second most popular candidate by over 10,000 votes.

The by-election was called following the resignation of MP Nakornchai Khunnarong from the MFP on 3 August after it was revealed that he was convicted of theft and sentenced to prison for three years in 1999. Only three parties fielded candidates in the by-election: Move Forward, Democrat, and Nation Building Labour.

The Election Commission Office in Rayong announced on Sunday night (10 September) that Pongsathon came first with 39,296 votes. In the second place was the Democrat Party’s candidate Banyat Jettanachan, with 26,376 votes.

The Election Commission Office also said that around 56% of eligible voters in the constituency turned up to the poll.

Jaiphet Sakhonpanich, director of the Election Commission’s Rayong office, told Thairath Online that the ECT has not received any complaint regarding the by-election, and that the Rayong office is submitting a report to the ECT headquarters on Monday (11 September) so it can certify the results.

The Move Forward Party noted that, while it did not win several polling stations during the general election, it won in the by-election and Pongsathon received around 10,000 more votes than its candidate received during the earlier general election.