PUBLISHED : 27 Aug 2023 at 09:57
Most people believe the Pheu Thai-led “special government” with Srettha Thavisin as prime minister and including military-linked parties is unlikely to do away with the colour-coded political divide in the country, and a plurality thinks the new divide will be between orange Move Forward supporters and those of the new red-yellow governing coalition, according to an opinion survey by the National Institute of Development Administration, or Nida Poll.
The poll was conducted on Aug 23-25 by telephone interviews with 1,310 people aged 18 and over of various levels of education, occupations and incomes throughout the country.
Asked whether they had taken part in political rallies of various political groups in the country, a huge majority or 87.63% said they had never participated. A further 4.35% said they had attended rallies of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD, the red shirts); 3.13% the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD, the yellow shirts); 3.05% the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC, the yellow-shirt PDRC successor group); and 2.82% the pro-democracy three-finger group (orange shirts).
Asked which political group they are currently affiliated with, a huge majority or 69.47% said they are non-affiliated; 19.85% said they are with the three-finger group (orange shirts); 6.64% with the red-shirt UDD; 2.59% with the yellow-shirt PAD; and 1.45% with the PDRC.
Asked whether they believed the coalition government led by the Pheu Thai Party with Srettha Thavisin as prime minister would lead to the healing of the colour-coded political divide, a majority, 57.25% said “no” – 36.72% not at all and 20.53% moderately. On the other side, 40.46% said “yes” – 20.61% for sure and 19.85% moderately. The rest, 2.29%, had no answer or were not interested.
Asked whether they thought the return of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra would lead to the end of political conflict between the yellow-shirt PAD and PDRC and the red-shirt UDD 49.31% said “yes” and 49.01% said “no”. The rest, 1.68%, had no answer or were not interested.
Finally, asked which political groups they thought would continue to be in conflict in the future, the answers varied as follows:
• 39.39% the orange shirts on one side and the yellow shirts and red shirts on the other side
• 24.89% believed there would be no more political conflict between these political groups
• 16.56% the red shirts and the orange shirts
• 6.72% the yellow shirts and the red shirts
• 2.44% the red shirts and the PDRC
• 2.29% the yellow shirts and the orange shirts
• 1.45% the PDRC and the orange shirts
• 0.53% the yellow shirts and the PDRC
• 10,53% no answer/not interested