Leader Niphon outlines plans to make region a centre for transport and finance
The Democrat Party on Saturday tried to woo voters in Songkhla’s Hat Yai district by promising to turn the district into a southern transport and financial hub.
Speaking before a gathering of around 20,000 people near Hat Yai’s clock tower on Saturday, deputy Democrat leader Niphon Bunyamanee said the party has an infrastructure development plan ready for this district.
The proposals include a 13-kilometre monorail to ease traffic in downtown Hat Yai, and a new double-track railway and more motorways to connect the district with Padang Besar in neighbouring Malaysia to boost border trade.
The party would also oversee construction of a sea bridge to Koh Samui in Surat Thani.
“We aim to make Hat Yai a transport and financial centre of the region,” said Mr Niphon.
Drafted and proposed by Mr Niphon during his stint as president of Songkhla’s provincial administrative organisation, the 16-billion-baht monorail plan has already passed an environmental impact assessment, said Samart Ratchaphonsit, another deputy Democrat leader.
Stretching from Ban Phru, a municipality in Hat Yai, to Diana shopping complex in the heart of the district, the monorail system will be split into three sections when built, he said.
MFP BACKS DIGITAL FUTURE
Move Forward Party (MFP) leader Pita Limjaroenrat has urged people in Phuket to choose his party and policies, including a bid to develop the island as a digital economy hub.
“Many political observers have said it is impossible for the MFP to win even one seat in the South,” Mr Pita told supporters of a campaign event at Saphan Hin in Muang district on Friday night.
In the previous election in 2019, the now-defunct Future Forward Party gained more than 40,000 votes from islanders.
“However, more than 300,000 islanders, 150,000 of whom are young voters, are eligible to vote this time. So, why should the MFP not be able to win this time?” he asked.
“Right now, Phuket is listed on the tourist maps of many platforms like Agoda. The tourism of the future will not be the same and the MFP will help promote the digital economy to boost the living standards of islanders,” he said.
PRAWIT FUELS SOUTH PUSH
Meanwhile, the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) has pledged to lower fuel prices and develop the South if it wins the election on May 14. The party wooed voters in Songkhla’s Hat Yai district during an event on Friday night.
“If I am chosen as prime minister, I will lower the price of benzene to 25 baht per litre, diesel to 28 baht per litre, cooking gas to 250 baht per tank and electricity bill to 2.70 baht per unit,” PPRP leader Gen Prawit Wongsuwon told supporters from his platform at the International Convention Centre in Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai campus.
Power prices have emerged as a big issue in the campaign with the government trying to bring them down, and parties vying with each other with promises to cut them.
Nipit Intarasombat, a key PPRP figure, urged people in the South to choose the PPRP as it would develop the region and boost people’s incomes.
Mr Nipit said he had 30 years in politics and experience as a member of the Democrat Party to draw on and voters can feel confident the PPRP is well qualified to govern again if it wins the election.
Capt Thamanat Prompow, a PPRP candidate in Phayao, said the PPRP will work with every party and will proceed with campaign pledges including agricultural land management, 700-baht welfare and a life insurance scheme.