PUBLISHED: 17 Feb 2025 at 04: 30
According to a study conducted by the National Institute of Development Administration, the majority of Thais support the president’s decision to shut down power in Myanmar in order to overcome call-centre groups.
The Nida poll was conducted on Feb 10-11 among 1, 310 individuals aged 18 and over of several levels of education and activities nationwide.
Asked about the government’s battle on fraud gangs, 70.54 % said they absolutely agreed with the president’s move to cut off utilities to areas where scammers are believed to work in Myanmar. In addition, 21.07 % somewhat agreed, 5.34 % somewhat disagreed, and 3.05 % strongly disagreed.
On how whether the measures were likely to be effective, 60.92 % said to a certain extent, 17.71 % a lot, 15.95 % very little and 5.42 % thought they would have no impact at all.
Regarding rumours of collusion by Thai officials in Myanmar, 69.85 % said there definitely were, 26.87 % were not sure and only 3.28 % said they were sure no Thai officials were helping the call centre scammers.
When questioned about whether a group was bigger, people who were duped into working for call center gangs or those who worked voluntarily, the responses were as follows: 49.77 % said the two groups were likely to be equal in number, and 25.80 % said most people went voluntarily to Myanmar to work for scammers.