Poll shows many Thai residents don’t think the lockdown has been successful

According to a survey by the National Institute of Development Administration, most respondents think the partial lockdown to curb the spread of Covid has been unsuccessful. The NIDA poll was done through phone interviews between August 23 and August 26 with 1,312 respondents that were 18… and older. They had a variety of education levels, vocations, and reside throughout the country.

On the question of whether the lockdown had been successful, 65% of respondents replied “no”. Of that percentage, 36% said the lockdown was a complete failure because not every area was in lockdown and the measures weren’t strict enough which led to an increasing number of infections. 29% replied that the lockdown wasn’t too successful because not everyone complied fully with the government’s measures and some people had not received a Covid vaccine.

27% answered that the partial lockdown was fairly successful because people had closely followed the government’s guidelines which reduced transmission. 6% of respondents replied it was a big success as the movement restrictions helped bring down the infections. The remaining 3% did not answer.

On the question of whether the lockdown should continue, 74% replied “yes”. Of that percentage, 26% said the lockdown should continue but with stricter measures to prevent people from travelling and gathering. 26% said it should continue but the measures should be eased as some people have already been vaccinated. 21% said the lockdown should continue the way it was going as the measures were appropriate.

24% of respondents said the lockdown should be removed. Their rationale was that the lockdown was hindering residents’ ability to financially support themselves and Covid is spreading anyways. The respondents added that the government should instead get quality vaccines for Thailand. The last 2% did not provide an answer to the question.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post