Patraporn Kengrungruangchai of the People's Party (PP) was elected the 26th president of the Bangkok Metropolitan Council (BMC) on Sunday, pledging greater transparency and accountability.
The council held its first meeting following the June 28 election to choose its president and two vice presidents.
Ms Patraporn, a PP councillor for Bang Sue district, defeated Democrat Party candidate Wirat Kongkakhet, councillor for Bangkok Yai, by 39 votes to seven in an open show-of-hands vote after members agreed to forgo the traditional secret ballot.
In her vision statement, Ms Patraporn pledged to make the council "transparent and fully accountable".
Her proposals include automatically publishing voting records for all council resolutions, live-streaming standing and ad hoc committee meetings except where national security or privacy concerns apply, disclosing councillors' attendance records, and establishing a parliamentary budget and research office to provide independent analysis of spending proposals and assist with drafting local legislation.
She also proposed establishing a special committee to review long-term contracts worth more than 100 million baht between the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) and private companies, focusing on waste management, public land concessions, and long-term information technology procurement.
She also called for the BMA to submit budget documents in machine-readable formats to improve scrutiny by councillors and announced plans for a public "Hack the Bangkok Budget" initiative later this year, allowing residents to help evaluate budget priorities.
"Every council vote should be disclosed automatically. Transparency should be the norm, not the exception," she told fellow councillors.
Mr Wirat, who did not give a formal presentation, said effective leadership depended on experience and a thorough understanding of council regulations. He likened the city's administration to three interconnected gears -- the executive, civil servants and the council -- that must work together for the benefit of Bangkok residents.
The council also elected Netiphum Mingrungjiralai as first vice president and Narisorn Saengkaew as second vice president, both unopposed.
Ms Patraporn, 37, was first elected to the council in 2022 and won re-election this year.
The PP emerged as the largest bloc in the June 28 election, winning 22 of the council's 50 seats.
