More than half of Thai people care most about understanding the policies of each political party taking part in the forthcoming election tentatively set for Feb 24 next year -- and how the policies can be put into practice, according to an opinion survey conducted by the Suan Dusit Rajabhat University, or Suan Dusit Poll.
The poll was conducted on Dec 18-22 on 1,149 eligible voters throughout the country to gather information about what people most want to know about the election, now that the Election Commission declared constituency boundaries and lifted political restrictions, prompting political parties to begin campaigning ahead of the poll.
Asked what they want to know about the election, the top ten issues mentioned by the respondents are as follows:
1. Policies in various fields of each political party -- and how they can be practically applied (52.74%);
2. Transparency in election management and prevention of fraud and vote-buying (33.68%);
3. Whether or not the election will help improve the country's political situation and economy (32.55%);
4. The number of MPs from each constituency (31.59%);
5. Names of candidates, their biographies and political parties (26.89%);
6. Whether or not the election will definitely be held -- or whether it will again be postponed (22.72%);
7. The election law and related regulations they have to comply with (21.50%);
8. Information on the ballot paper and how to vote (18.71%);
9. Details on the nomination of candidates for the prime minister's post and how an outsider is nominated for the post (17.67%); and
10. Information about old and new political parties and former MPs who have switched parties (15.84%).
