Beloved former Samut Sakhon governor wins Senate seat for Group 1

Former Samut Sakhon governor Verasak Vichitsangsri, who won hearts for his work in tending to Covid-19 patients in 2020, won a seat in the Senate as a Group 1 candidate.

Group 1 included candidates from the state administration and security sectors.

Verasak, who was at Impact Arena, Muang Thong Thani, until early Thursday morning to monitor votes cast in the final round on Wednesday, told reporters that he was excited and proud to have won a seat.

So far, the EC has only unofficially announced winners and is scheduled to endorse the 200 new senators on July 2.

The senator-elect said he will wait until the EC endorses his victory before he talks about his goals as a senator. Verasak said he is not sure if he is the first or second winner in his group, which included 2,478 former state officials as candidates.

He then excused himself and left, saying he had not slept all night.

The 63-year-old won much praise and public sympathy when he contracted an infection while working hard to contain the spread of Covid-19. He helped set up field hospitals for the infected and took care of them until he caught the virus himself. After contracting Covid-19, his condition became so serious that he went into a coma and ended up staying in Siriraj Hospital for three months.

On August 16, 2021, Verasak tried to step down as provincial governor, citing illness, but his resignation was rejected. A week later, he was made governor of his home province Ang Thong in what was seen as a reward for his contribution to the battle against Covid. He remained in this post until retirement.

Separately, well-known crusading lawyer Sittra Biabungkerd said he has only won a place on the waiting list.

He said he contested in the group covering civil sector and NGOs, but could not compete against certain candidates who had established votes.

Sittra said these “minions”, named after the little yellow creatures in the “Despicable Me” films, voted as ordered by a certain political party. He said members of the “minion gang” were easily identifiable because they dressed similarly, and their leaders won the highest number of votes.

“NGO candidates were beaten by members of the minion gang, who introduced themselves as public health volunteers,” he said. “The minion candidates won the highest number of votes and now hold over 70% of the Senate seats.”

Sittra alleged that candidates from the minion gang won more than 50 votes each and several were elected in the top seven ranks of most groups.