Mallika: Social media star soars in Bangkok governor election

Outspoken social media celebrity Mallika Boonmeetrakul Mahasuk stole the limelight in Sunday’s Bangkok gubernatorial election, outperforming political veterans and sending shockwaves through major parties.

While pre-election surveys predicting the re-election of Chadchart Sittipunt proved correct, many observers had doubted forecasts that Mallika – who ran as an independent candidate – would emerge as runner-up.

According to unofficial results released on Monday, Chadchart had won by a record 1.54 million votes, which surpassed his performance four years ago, when he was first elected with 1,386,215 votes, or 52% of all ballots.

Mallika, who has never been elected to office, finished second with 304,494 votes. Chaiwat Sathawornwichit from the opposition-leading People’s Party came third, with 188,144 votes, followed by the Democrat Party’s Anucha Burapachaisri with 106,739 votes.

Shock result

Mallika’s vote share stunned many observers, who did not expect her to outperform the candidate of the People’s Party, which swept all 33 of Bangkok’s seats at the general election just four months ago.

However, the People’s Party managed an impressive result in the concurrent Bangkok Council election, securing 22 out of 50 seats.

In a press conference held on Sunday night as ballots were being counted, Mallika thanked her supporters and congratulated “whoever the winner will be”, without naming Chadchart. She also expressed gratitude for the stronger-than-expected result in her favour.

Mallika, 53, outperformed political heavyweights who came second and third in the previous gubernatorial election – the Democrat Party’s Suchatvee Suwansawat and Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn of the People’s Party’s predecessor, Move Forward. Suchatvee finished second in 2022 with 254,723 votes, while Wiroj came third with 253,938 votes.

Analysts attributed Mallika’s strong performance to her eye-catching social media campaign, her reputation as a fearless fighter, and her determination to remain free of any party’s influence. She was viewed as the strongest conservative alternative to the more liberal-leaning Chadchart and Chaiwat.

Assoc Prof Yuttaporn Issarachai, a political scientist at Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, said Mallika benefited from the Democrat and People’s parties opting to field lower-profile candidates than Suchatvee and Wiroj.

Mallika’s promise to allow street vendors to operate around the clock may also have helped her win significant backing from that group.

A former Democrat

Born on February 22, 1973, in the northern province of Phayao, Mallika earned a bachelor’s degree from Ramkhamhaeng University’s Faculty of Humanities, and a master’s and doctorate from Rangsit University’s College of Social Innovation.

She began her career in the media industry as a reporter and news anchor at iTV, Thailand’s first independent television station.

She then shifted to politics, contesting for an MP seat in her home province. However, her first three attempts to enter politics failed – first with the Mahachon Party in 2005, and then with the Democrat Party in 2007 and 2011.

She was appointed a member of the National Legislative Assembly set up after the military coup in September 2006.

Under the subsequent Democrat-led government of Abhisit Vejjajiva, Mallika served as assistant secretary to multiple ministers.

In the 2019 general election, she ran as a Democrat list candidate but failed to get elected. After the Democrats joined a coalition government led by General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Mallika was appointed as an adviser to then-commerce minister Jurin Laksanawisit, who succeeded Abhisit as the new party leader.

Mallika became a Democrat list MP in 2022, replacing the party’s successful candidate before her, who resigned the seat to take up a government position.

She contested the 2023 general election as a Democrat list candidate but again failed to secure a seat. She left the party months later.

After leaving Thailand’s oldest political party, Mallika built up a reputation as an outspoken political commentator on social media platforms.

She quickly earned a strong following as a TikTok influencer. Her channel “Dr.Mallika1” has over 384,000 followers and has accumulated around 6.9 million likes.

Mallika also worked as a programme host for an online media outlet before joining the contest for the Bangkok governor’s seat earlier this year.

Campaigning on the slogan "A timely leader for the metropolis of the future", she promised to embrace artificial intelligence (AI) technology to enable people to earn a living 24 hours a day.

She also vowed to reduce Bangkokians’ cost of living, boost security, upgrade healthcare services, and increase green spaces to make the capital more livable.

By Thai PBS World’s Political Desk