Thailand’s political landscape will stay volatile despite PM’s acquittal – Nida Poll

A new Nida poll indicates that people think Thailand’s political landscape will remain volatile despite the recent court clearance of PM Prayut. Around 27% responded to the Nida poll by saying the situation would be more contentious and worrying after his clearance from the Constitutional Court over his occupancy of a military residence after retiring in 2014 as the military’s leader.

As protests have rocked the country nationwide, in both their scope and subject matter, almost 23% believed the current political climate would continue to be as contentious as before, but do say they aren’t “worried” as the court has upheld the PM’s appointment. Almost 18% of pollsters agreed that the climate would be more contentious, but still remain unworried. While 17% say they are worried about the political turmoil and feel it will stay the same.

One thing is clear, however, that only a small percentage, about 7%, of those polled, feel the situation would actually calm down the political landscape with a few less responding that there was nothing to worry about. As the news has made headlines worldwide, with Germany even being dragged into the chaos, only about 1% responded to the poll by choosing “no answer” or indicating that they were not interested in the poll’s questions.

People were also asked in the survey as to whether they think the leading People’s Group, who has staged most of the anti-government protests, would step up its presence after the court’s ruling affirmed the PM’s appointment, and contradicting their demands of his resignation. About 35% believed the pro-democracy groups would step up its protests, but would fail in pressuring the government to meet its demands, while 29% think the protests not increase.  That percentage also agrees that the group would not be able to persuade the government to make its requested changes.

Such changes include the resignation of PM Prayut, along with a manifesto that listed a constitutional rewrite as one of its demands by the group. Only a mere 12% actually think the government would yield to the group’s demands, while 8% believe the group would actually scale down its protests, with the government also not yielding to its demands.

The Nida Poll study was conducted on December 3 and 4 on 1,315 people across the nation, aged 18 years or older, with varying levels of education and occupations.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post