About 63 per cent of the town’s 12,831 registered voters turned out to vote, handing Mr Pian personally 53 per cent of the tally, and electing an overwhelming 17 of 18 members of his Rak Patong (Love Patong) Party to the town council.
The remaining seat went to the rival Patong Kao Na (Advance Patong) Party, in the person of its leader Kittisan Kuru.
The Director of the Phuket Office of the Election Commission (ECT), Kitthipong Tiangkunakrit, said today (September 3) that so far, the ECT has received no complaints about vote-buying or other shenanigans.
However, Mayor Pian will have to wait for about a month before officially sitting back down in the mayoral seat. According to election procedure, a formal result of the election will be announced only at the beginning of next month, after the votes have been confirmed by the Election Commission in Bangkok.
Kathu police made several arrests for selling alcohol illegally during the polling period.