Most Thais expect political chaos to persist in 2024: Survey
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About 39.2 per cent of survey participants expect Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin to remain in office in 2024.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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BANGKOK – Most Thais expect domestic political turmoil to persist in 2024, a survey showed, though the majority foresee Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin remaining in office.
About 45.7 per cent of survey participants expect the discord to be at the same level, with 28.4 per cent projecting heightened turbulence, according to a survey by the National Institute of Development Administration (Nida).
The poll was conducted via telephone between Dec 12 and Dec 20 among 1,310 Thai nationals aged 18 and above.
About 14.3 per cent of respondents predict the situation will ease in 2024, while 7 per cent anticipate no disarray in Thai political developments, the Nida poll showed. Around 4.7 per cent are either indifferent and uninterested, or did not respond.
Political twists and turns dominated Thai politics in 2023 as the May general election ended nearly a decade of military-backed rule, and former premier Thaksin Shinawatra returned from exile
Mr Srettha was sworn into office in September
About 39.2 per cent in the Nida poll expect Mr Srettha to remain in office in 2024, and 20.5 per cent project a Cabinet reshuffle.
Two verdicts are set to be delivered later in January by the Constitutional Court.
It will rule on a case on Jan 24 against Mr Pita Limjaroenrat – then leader of the Move Forward Party when it won the most parliamentary seats in the election – about his shareholding in a media company.
The court will also issue a ruling on Jan 31 on whether Move Forward and Mr Pita violated the charter by campaigning to amend the country’s lese majeste law.
The 250-member Senate will also face changes in May that will present a crucial turning point in Thai politics.
The senators will no longer have the power to elect a prime ministerial candidate, an authority given to them by a military-drafted Constitution in 2017. New senators will also be chosen in 2024. BLOOMBERG
