BANGKOK, 1 June 2011 – Competition between the Pheu Thai Party and the Democrat Party is neck-and-neck in nine provinces in the lower North, according to a recent survey by Naresuan Poll of Naresuan University.
Social Science lecturer Asst Prof Dr Jak Panchupet from Naresuan University chaired a press briefing on the survey. It was conducted with 1,828 respondents in nine lower northern provinces from 29 to 30 May 2011 regarding the upcoming election.
The Pheu Thai Party got the highest popularity with a 23.2% support from the respondents, followed by the Democrat Party with 22.2% and other parties 4.5%; however, the remaining 50.1% of the respondents are still undecided which parties they will go for.
As for prime minister candidates, 31.8% of the respondents preferred Democrat candidate Abhisit Vejjajiva while other 29.6% wanted Pheu Thai candidate Yingluck Shinawatra. 7.3% of the respondents chose other candidates while the rest of 31.2% had not made any decision yet.
37.1% of the respondents said they can accept it if the political party winning the majority seats has successfully formed a new government without the leader of that party becoming the prime minister. However, 33.7% of the respondents cannot accept it while other 29.2% refused to comment.
52.2% of the respondents believed that vote-buying will be higher in this election while 7.1% thought the opposite. 24.8% of them were not sure while 15.9% said it will remain in the same level.
50.1% said they can accept it if a political party which does not have the majority of MP seats can form a new government with supports from other parties. 42.7% of the respondents were not sure how the situation in the nation will change if Thailand has a female prime minister.
