Thread: Thailand believed to be suffering economic hardship

Surayud govt hurt economy: poll

A large proportion of people surveyed in an Abac poll released yesterday said they felt Thai society was now suffering more economic hardship at both household and national levels since the Surayud Chulanont government took power.

Of 1,438 Bangkok residents surveyed between August 23 and September 1, 60.3 per cent said they felt the economic situation had become worse at the national level.

Only 3.1 per cent thought it was better and 6.4 per cent said it was the same. "Equally bad" was the opinion of 29.7 per cent. At the household level, 32.4 per cent said the economy was worse, while 4.2 per cent said it was better and 32.5 per cent said it was the same. The other 30.8 per cent said it was as bad as under the previous Thaksin Shinawatra government.

Asked how they felt about the Surayud government's prospects of improving the economic situation, only 4.1 per cent said they felt certain while 27.9 per cent said not. For 48.6 per cent, they felt "rather confident" while 19.4 per cent said they felt "rather unconfident".

Asked which social or economic problem they wanted solved immediately, 55.6 per cent chose lower prices for commodity goods while 25.7 chose social problems, including drugs.

The rest of respondents chose better infrastructure (14.7 per cent) and easier access to education for poor people (13.7 per cent).

The Nation