BANGKOK, 24 June 2011 – Popularity of the Pheu Thai Party is still higher than any other parties in Bangkok and so is the situation of its prime minister candidate, according to a recent survey by the Bangkok University Research Institute (Bangkok Poll).
The survey was conducted from 16 to 22 June 2011 with 3,338 eligible voters whose house registrations are in Bangkok. The respondents were asked about their political preference in the upcoming 3 July general election.
As for constituency system, 37.9% of the respondents will choose candidates from the Pheu Thai Party while 22.2% will chose those from the Democrat Party. 1.2% will go for the Rak Santi Party. 5.1% will vote no while 22.1% remain undecided. 7.6% of the respondents refused to answer.
As for the party-list system, 38.3% of the respondents will go for the Pheu Thai Party while 21.6% and 1.2% will choose the Democrat and Rak Santi Parties respectively. 4.7% of the respondents will vote no while 20.6% are undecided. 7.8% of them refused to answer.
Asked for the preferred prime minister, 47.2% of the respondents named Pheu Thai candidate Yingluck Shinawatra, reasoning that they wanted to give an opportunity to a new face and wanted the first female prime minister with business management experience.
Democrat candidate Abhisit Vejjajiva was at the second having 28.0% of supporters, who said they wanted continuation of the current national policy. The third and the fourth most favorite candidates are Rak Santi’s Police General Purachai Piumsombun and Rak Thailand’s Chuvit Kamolvisit receiving 5.1% and 3.9% respectively.
Asked about their confidence in the efficiency of the Election Commission in handling the election with transparency and justice, 57.1% of the respondents had low or no confidence at all while 42.9% were quite confident.
