Most younger generation Thai people favour the Future Forward party, while older Thais prefer the Palang Pracharat party, especially Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, said Mr. Noppadol Kannikar, director of the Super Poll Research Office, citing its latest opinion poll results.
Super Poll gauged the opinions of 1,616 respondents between August 10th and 24th and the poll results are as follows.
- 9% of respondents under 20, 67.4% of respondents aged 20-30, 50.3% of respondents aged 31-40 favor the Future Forward Party. The older they are, the less they favour the party.
- 6% of the respondents aged over 51 prefer the Palang Pracharat party, while only 33.3% of people aged 41-50 favour the party against only 4.8% of people under 20.
- The poll shows the two generations of Thai people have different preferences when it comes to political parties, said Noppadol, adding younger people may have bad experiences with some corrupt officials, which has left a bad impression in their minds.
- The poll also shows 77.6% of respondents under 20 and 68.7% of respondents aged 20-30 disagree with Prime Minister Prayut doubling as leader of the Palang Pracharat party. This compares with 50.4% of the 31-40 age group and 56.5% of the 41-50 age group and 53.6% of the older group preferring the prime minister hold the two posts.
Noppadol said political parties will have a greater public support base if they regularly reach out to the people and respond to their needs quickly.
Meanwhile, a Nida Poll says that 48.69% of its respondents disagree with General Prawit Wongsuwan being chief strategist of the Palang Pracharat party, claiming that he is not fit for the job, which should be given to a younger person, compared to 31.61% who believe he is suitable because of his seniority and experience.
Nida Poll surveyed the opinions of 1,259 people of different age groups, educational levels and professions between August 21st and 22nd about the politicians switching parties.
The poll shows 49.80% of the respondents disagree with MPs of the New Economics party defecting to the government camp, while 50.52% support the Thai Civilized party breaking from the government camp to become an independent opposition.
50.44% agree with former Palang Thongthin Thai deputy spokesman and a former entertainer Rathapoom “Film” Tokongsap joining the Pheu Thai party, claiming it is the personal right of a politician to switch parties.
When asked, however, about Pheu Thai MPs wanting to defect to the government camp, 53.14% of the respondents rejected the idea on the grounds that they are selfish and do not have a clear political standpoint.
