Thread: Survey: Many see politicians as vulgar

Bangkok Post : Survey: Many see politicians as vulgar


Survey: Many see politicians as vulgar

• Published: 15/08/2010 at 02:30 PM
• Online news: Breakingnews

Many people see the majority of Thai politicians as people who like to speak rudely, look down on others and are devious, according to a latest survey on people's views on politicians conducted by Suan Dusit Poll.


Politicians are seen as disrespectful and disobedience to the Parliament speaker. They are considered to be irresponsible for leaving parliamentary meetings prematurely to express their satisfaction, getting into fights and engaing in inappropriate behaviours.

The respondents said being humble, polite and friendly are a good politician's foremost qualities, followed by being honest, committed, determined and keeping their promises.

42.38 per cent of the polled said the image of politicians worsened after they were seen arguing and fighting in public, followed by involving in corruption and blaming each other.

The respondents said politicians should urgently solve disunity among them, put aside their personal interests and stop abusing their power. They should be honest, ethical, responsible and committed to work for the country and its people.

If an election was held today, how would Thais vote? | Asian Correspondent

If an election was held today, how would Thais vote?

Aug. 16 2010 - 03:30 pm
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There is a new ABAC poll surveying 2,250 people in 12 provinces (กรุงเทพมหานคร ปทุมธานี ชลบุรี นครราชสีมา อุดรธานี กาฬสินธุ์ เชียงใหม่ แม่ฮ่องสอน นครสวรรค์ ประจวบคีรีขันธ์ ภูเก็ต and สงขลา). The survey was conducted between July and August 2010.

Survey Data Methodology:

By gender: 53.6% women and 46.4% men

By age:

• those aged 15-24 (15.6%),
• those aged 25-35 (29.1%),
• those aged 36-45 (24.4%),
• those aged 46-60 (30.9%)

By education:
86.1% have less than a bachelor's degree, 13.4% have a bachelor's degree, 0.5% have a higher degree.

By profession:

• 38.5%are traders/businessman,
• 29.3% are farmers/contractors
• 10.5% work for private enterprises,
• 7.5% are housewives/househusbands/retired,
• 6.8% are students
• 4.6% are civil servants/state enterprise employees,
• 2.3% didn't specify a job/unemployed.

By Monthly Income:
Income under 5,000 Baht, 37.3%

• Income below 15,000 Baht a month, 82.3%
• Income after 15,000 Baht a month 17.3%

BP: You may have noted BP's general poll disclaimer about a slight Democrat lean for polls

NOTE: In case you are wondering whether there is still any basis for such a disclaimer, you just need to look at the recent by-election in Constituency 6 in Bangkok. Exit poll data (over 5000 were surveyed) indicated the Democrats winning by 12%. The actual result was the Democrats won by 8%. For a variety of reasons, most polls favour the Democrats by around 4-5% points. The discrepancy between the exit poll and the actual result in Constituency 6 has just confirmed BP's view of this (of course, not every poll will be like this so it will not apply in every case).

Q1: What are your views on corruption in business?
A. It is normal, 42%
B. Unsure, 38.8%
C. Don't think it is normal, 19.2%

Breakdown by occupation:

Student Civ servants/state enterprise employees Farmers/contractors Traders/businessmen Priv sector employees
Normal 26.9 46.2 46.7 49.8 51.4
Unsure 39 26.7 39.7 31.4 30.3
Not normal20.3 26.6 14.1 18.8 18.3
BP: None of these figures are particularly surprising. Students are more idealistic that businessmen (shock, horror!).

Q2: What are your views on the current political situation?
A.Support the government, 21.2%
B. Don't support the government, 17%
C. Neither side (silent majority), 61.8%


Breakdown by education:

Less Than Bachelors Bachelors More Than Bachelors
Support 19.5 30.9 41.7
Don't 17.8 12.1 25
Neither side 62.7 57 33.3
BP: Actually, the sample size of those who have more than a bachelor's degree is rather small, but BP is not terribly surprised that this group has more "set" political views. The bachelor's degree one though surprised BP on the disparity between those who support the government versus those who don't.


Breakdown by location:

Urban Rural Bangkok
Support 28.6 17 13
Don't 15.9 16.7 22.7
Neither side 54.5 66.3 64.3

BP: Now, this is one interesting data point. There are more government supporters in urban areas outside of Bangkok than in Bangkok. Actually, BP is not that surprised. Different groups may define differently what "support" for the government means.

Breakdown by age:


15-24 25+ Total
Support 17.1 21.9 21.1
Don't 15.1 17.4 17
Neither side 67.8 60.7 61.8

Q3. If there as an election held today, who would your party list vote be for?


Breakdown by age:

15-24 25+ Total*
Democrats 42.7 40.6 41.7
Puea Thai 45.1 47.5 46.7
Others 12.2 11.9 11.6
* The link has the total figures wrong because mathematically they doesn't make sense. The Bangkok Post figures add up - most of the Thai language papers just mention the 15-24 and 25+ figures and not the total.


BP: Disappointing that there are not breakdowns by occupation or location for this question. Some interesting points:

1. Things are turning more into a two party system. This is good for both parties. Democrats have less to worry from NPP who are looking more like an annoyance (although they will likely hinder the Democrats in the constituency vote). It will be harder for third parties to lure away defectors from Puea Thai given the votes for the third parties is shrinking. Not that some will not try and this is why you have figures of up to 50 million Baht per MP to switch to Bhum Jai Thai. The closer you get to an election, the less rationale for someone to switch.

2. What happens if this poll is also Democrat-leaning by 4-5 points as well? Obviously, you have the constituency vote to consider - actually at the 2007 general election, PPP (predecessor to Puea Thai) and the Democrats were neck-and-neck on the party vote, but PPP won by more than 6% on the constituency vote.