BANGKOK, Feb 5 – Thailand’s Gross Domestic Happiness (GDH) has continuously declined due to the overall political situation and household economic circumstances, according to Assumption University’s ABAC poll released on Sunday.
The poll, which surveyed the happiness index of Thai people over 18 years of age, was conducted between Jan 23 – Feb 4 with 3,231 respondents in 17 provinces, indicating that the GDH index at the end of January stood at only 6.66 out of 10.
Ms Puntharee Issarangkul Na Ayutthaya, a researcher at the ABAC Poll Happiness Center, said Thai people’s overall happiness index has kept declining since last July when it was measured at 7.55 out of 10 points.
Political factors contributed to the decrease of the overall happiness index, explained Ms Puntharee, in particular the conflict on the charter amendment and Article 112, which is related to the nation’s revered monarchy, as well as the persistent political divisiveness among the Thai people.
Another negative factor, according to the researcher, is the household economic situation, as the cost of living has risen while income has remained the same.
Ms Puntharee added the happiness index on the political situation stood at 4.27 while the household economic situation was measured at 4.39 points.
Ms Puntharee however, revealed a positive aspect for the happiness index of Thai people, saying that loyalty for the monarchy was as high as 9.29 points, while the index on relationships within the family was at 8.14.
Regarding politics, Ms Puntharee said 60.8 percent of respondents still wanted Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to have a chance to continue her work as she has just started the prime minister job not so long ago. She noted that Thai people like to give opportunity to a person as long as it does not mean too many problems for the nation. Moreover, the people do not want to see more disturbances and divisiveness in the country.
