Thailand oil crisis poll shows unease and doubts over reserves
A new NIDA Poll released today, March 22, found that many adults in Thailand are worried about the country’s oil crisis, with more than half reporting daily difficulties, and a large share expressing little confidence in the government’s ability to maintain a stable oil supply.
The survey, titled “Oil shortage: Talk to your partner, Switch off the lights”, was conducted by the NIDA Poll centre at the National Institute of Development Administration between March 17 and 18.
It reportedly questioned 1,310 people aged 18 and over across the country, covering different regions, education levels, occupations and incomes.
NIDA Poll said it randomly selected participants in several stages and collected responses through phone interviews. It put the margin of error at no more than 0.05 at a 97% confidence level.
The poll suggests many people feel uneasy about the oil crisis, with 31.76% saying they were “quite panicked” and 17.71% “very panicked”. Meanwhile, 26.64% said they were “not very panicked” and 23.89% said they were “not panicked at all”.
On day-to-day impacts, more than half of respondents said they had faced oil shortages in daily life. The poll found 33.66% reported experiencing some problems and 23.59% said they experienced many problems. In contrast, 33.90% said they had not faced any problems, while 8.85% said they did not use oil in their daily lives.
The poll also measured confidence in the government after information stated Thailand’s oil reserves would be sufficient for 98 days, based on data as of March 13, and whether the government could secure additional supplies.
The largest group, 44.28%, said they were not confident on either point, saying they did not believe reserves would last 98 days and did not believe the government could find more oil. Another 28.93% said they were confident in both the reserve claim and the government’s ability to obtain additional oil.
The remaining responses were mixed, with 16.72% doubtful about the 98-day reserve figure but confident the government could secure more oil, and 9.54% confident about reserves but not about securing extra supplies.
Amarin TV reported that looking ahead to the upcoming Songkran holiday, the poll asked respondents about travel plans if the oil crisis has not ended.
Most respondents, 57.56%, said they had no Songkran travel plans in the first place. Among those who did have plans, 14.80% said they would cancel their trips entirely if the oil crisis continues.
For those still planning to travel, 12.06% said they would travel as normal. Others said they would make changes, with 9.62% changing how they travel, 2.75% changing their destination, and 2.98% changing both their method of travel and their destination.
The impact is already turning up in everyday routines. In Ang Thong, a horse farm owner in resorted to riding a horse through his village with a fuel can to search for petrol, after vehicles used to feed and transport horses ran out of fuel.
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