Paetongtarn “Ung-ing” Shinawatra, leader of the “Pheu Thai family”, tops the list of potential candidates for the post of prime minister among people in the North, according to a survey by the National Institute for Development Administration, or Nida Poll.
The daughter of former prime minister Thaksin was trailed by some distance by Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of the Move Forward Party — although together they captured almost half the vote, leaving Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha and other establishment candidates on the fringes.
The poll was conducted by telephone on Oct 28-Nov 2 among 2,000 eligible voters aged 18 and over of various levels of education, occupations and incomes in the North.
The pollster said it was to compile respondents’ opinions on “the right person, right party for northern people”.
Asked who they would support as prime minister today, the answers were as follows: Paetongtarn Shinawatra of the Pheu Thai Party (31.7%), Pita Limjaroenrat of the Move Forward Party (15%), Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha (12.5%), Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan of the Thai Sang Thai Party (6.5%) and “nobody suitable for the post” (12.6%)
When questioned about which party they would prefer when voting for a constituency MP, the answers were: Pheu Thai (48.7%), Move Forward (16.4%), Palang Pracharath (8.05%), Democrat (5.4%) with 10.4% still undecided.
Under the party-list system, the answers were: the Pheu Thai Party (48.7%), Move Forward Party (16.1%), Palang Pracharath Party (7.2%) and the Democrat Party (4.7%) with 11.5% yet to decide.