A Bangkok Poll found that 57 per cent of respondents to its survey identified free medical coverage or universal healthcare as the policy of greatest interest to them, followed by farm aid (54.4 per cent); those involving welfare, cost of living and income (48.3 per cent); assistance for the underprivileged and the poor
(48 per cent), anti-corruption measures (45.7 per cent) and infrastructure (27.7 per cent).
When asked what qualities they would want in their prime minister, 66.4 per cent said they wanted a leader with integrity and no corruption record, followed by a resolute leader (46.6 per cent), a leader with proven creativity or with ideas for new projects (45.9 per cent), and a diligent person who works for the people (45.2 per cent).
Only 15 per cent said they wanted a non-partisan or “outsider” prime minister. Notably, 12.4 per cent wanted a leader from a new party while 12.3 per cent wanted a PM from a large party such as the Democrat or Pheu Thai.
When asked if they would choose Prayut if they were to vote for a prime minister today, 40 per cent said yes, up 3.2 percentage points from a previous poll in January. Another 25.5 per cent said they would not vote for him, down 9.3 points from the previous survey, while 34.5 per cent would abstain, up 6.1 points.
The survey, titled “What Kind of Prime Minister Thais Want”, was conducted on May 16 and 17 based on telephone interviews with 1,205 people aged 18 or over
nation
