BANGKOK, July 25 (UPI) -- An unofficial tally indicates Panich Vikitsreth of Thailand's ruling Democrat Party has won Bangkok's by-election in his district, the Election Commission said.

Panich defeated his major rival in the Sunday race for the parliamentary seat, Korkaew Pikulthong, the Thai News Agency reported. Korkaew is in prison on terror charges linked to recent mass rallies in Bangkok.

Panich, a former deputy minister for foreign affairs, won 96,480 votes. Korkaew, a leader of the anti-government United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship received 81,776 votes.

Voter turnout, expected to hit 60 percent, was around 50 percent, the EC said.

The by-election was to fill the seat left vacant by late Democrat MP Thiwa Ngernyuang, who died of cancer on June 11.

The Sunday by-election was the country's first parliamentary race after the mass Red Shirt protests in the capital by the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, the news agency reported. The protests and government crackdown left nearly 90 people dead and 1,900 injured during 10 weeks of disruption.