Thaksin’s daughter top choice for PM in central Thailand, survey finds

BANGKOK - A recent opinion survey has found that former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s youngest daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra is the top choice among most voters in Thailand’s central region.

The latest poll results come on top of previous surveys that found Ms Paetongtarn to be the most popular choice in the north, north-east and nationwide as well, though she was beaten slightly in Bangkok and the south.

The survey conducted by the National Institute of Development Administration (Nida) found that Ms Paetongtarn topped the list of preferred PM candidates, followed by Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat and Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.

The telephone survey was conducted from Nov 2 to 5 and involved 2,002 respondents aged 18 and above. The respondents were sampled from 17 central provinces, and the results were announced on Sunday.

In response to who their most preferred prime minister candidate would be and why:

• 24.18 per cent chose Ms Paetongtarn, because the country should be run by the new generation, the Pheu Thai Party’s policies are great, and they have faith in the Shinawatra family;

• 16.73 per cent picked Mr Pita, because the Move Forward Party’s policies are very good;

• 16.23 per cent chose Mr Prayut, as he is a man of integrity who brought peace to the country;

• 13.54 per cent were undecided;

• 7.04 per cent picked Mr Sereepisuth Temeeyaves, the Seree Ruam Thai Party leader;

• 6.19 per cent picked Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan, the Thai Sang Thai leader;

• 3.1 per cent chose Mr Korn Chatikavanij, Chart Pattana Kla Party’s leader;

• 2.05 per cent picked Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, the Bhumjaithai Party leader;

• 1.8 per cent were not interested or had no comment;

• 1.6 per cent chose Ms Kanchana Silpa-archa, the former Chart Thai Pattana leader; and

• 1.5 per cent went for Mr Cholnan Srikaew, the Pheu Thai leader.

The remaining 6.04 per cent was shared by several other politicians.

The survey also found that most voters in the central region will vote for constituency-based candidates from the Pheu Thai, with 32.42 per cent choosing the party. This was followed by Move Forward (19.98 per cent), undecided (13.99 per cent), Palang Pracharath (10.54 per cent) and Democrat (7.54 per cent). The remainder was shared among several other parties.

Pheu Thai continued to top the list as the favourite party for party-list MPs, with 32.57 per cent of respondents citing it.

It was followed by Move Forward (19.83 per cent), undecided (14.28 per cent), Palang Pracharath (10.49 per cent) and Democrat (7.14 per cent). The rest of the respondents cited other parties.

Thailand is due to call a general election by March 2023.

Mr Prayut has so far given no indication of when an election will be called. The 68-year-old former army chief, who has been in power since a coup he led in 2014, has seen a steady decline in his popularity.

Nida, which conducted the latest survey, is a public graduate university focused on fields related to national development.

It was set up in 1966 with financial support from the United States’ Ford Foundation and academic assistance from the Midwest Universities Consortium for International Activities. THE NATION/ASIA NEWS NETWORK