Senior citizens go for the ‘tried and trusted’

By Pratch Rujivanarom 
The Nation 

 

 

ELDERLY VOTERS were yesterday showing their usual tendency to “play it safe” and vote for the same parties they’ve always supported rather than taking a “gamble” on newcomers.

 

Most seniors asked about their voting habits said they chose a party based on its prior performance and thus preferred established parties and MP candidates with which they were familiar.

 

Kornthip Eksamut, 72, casting her ballot in Bangkok’s Phasi Charoen district, said she and other members of her family were sticking with the Democrat Party, their choice in previous elections.

 

“Some members of my family are switching this time to the Phalang Pracharat Party, but most of us are still voting Democrat because we’re confident they’ll do honest work in Parliament,” Kornthip said.

 

 

She said she was “quite happy” with General Prayut Chan-o-cha’s performance “and would like to see him stay on as prime minister for another term”.

 

“But some of his current Cabinet members aren’t very honest, in my view, so I’m sticking with my beloved Democrat Party in the hope they’ll work with General Prayut and take the country in the right direction.”

 

Kornthip had heard younger people speak highly of Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit and his Future Forward Party. She believed they must have good qualities to draw so much approval among youth, but she didn’t know Thanathorn well enough to vote for him.

 

A similar principle applied at the opposite end of the political spectrum for Prajeub Yimklib, a senior in Nonthaburi’s Bang Kruai district. She was once again voting for the Pheu Thai Party because she remains confident in its abilities and intentions.

 

“I admit that Thanathorn and Future Forward are appealing, but I still prefer Pheu Thai because I benefited from many of their good policies while they were in office,” Prajeub said.

 

“I hope Pheu Thai wins the election and forms the new government so they can come out with more good policies that truly benefit the people.”

 

While first-time voters are getting much of the media and candidate attention for their ability to swing the election outcome, the long queues of older voters at many polling stations in Bangkok’s suburbs attested to their keenness to participate and play their own crucial role.

 

In fact there were more seniors eligible to vote in this contest than young people – 10 million 61 years or older, representing 19.5 per cent of the total voting public, compared to 7.33 million voters age 18 to 25, or 14.3 per cent of the total.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/politics/30366476

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2019-03-25

Yea, keep voting for more of the same. That’s done well for the country all these years.

45 minutes ago, webfact said:

still voting Democrat because we’re confident they’ll do honest work

Braindead.

45 minutes ago, webfact said:

She believed they must have good qualities to draw so much approval among youth, but she didn’t know

Gawd, there's really  no  hope when all you have is "belief"

3 hours ago, webfact said:

ELDERLY VOTERS were yesterday showing their usual tendency to “play it safe” and vote for the same parties they’ve always supported rather than taking a “gamble” on newcomers.

never mind 'thinking' and , by the way, how has that worked out ?

Every country has the government it deserves!
Apart from cheating and misinformation Thais missed a historic chance yesterday - Instead of a solid bright future they voted for handouts and corruption again!

Sorry to say but the fact that in every election you have millions of invalid votes here shows that millions are too stupid to make a simple cross on a ballot paper one can hardly expect an informed choice from such an electorate.


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

ignorance is bliss.

1 hour ago, SmartyMarty said:

ignorance is bliss.

That was proven back in 2016 when the people voted for a constitution and Senate which the country has today.

They and the illiterate were the target of the pre vote buying and just to stupid to take the money and vote opposite ????

4 minutes ago, sammieuk1 said:

They and the illiterate were the target of the pre vote buying and just to stupid to take the money and vote opposite ????

For a moment there I thought I'd stumbled into a Brexit thread

The country needs 20-30 years for the old generation to kick the bucket so the younger, more savvy people can finally move it forward. Unless they by that time have managed to transform into old farts.

more like the failed and mistrusted ????

Edited March 25, 20197 yr by Orton Rd

Disturbing that they are voting for the stars quo and did not take the time to educate themselves regarding the options for office. They have the right to vote...but should they be voting or should the exclude themselves from the process if they didn't take to time to understand what is happening around them? For them to determine the future of the country is reason for great concern.

They went for the party who said would pay them 300 baht a month , although its law now. Older people was worried they may lose 300 baht.

17 minutes ago, chama said:

Disturbing that they are voting for the stars quo and did not take the time to educate themselves regarding the options for office. They have the right to vote...but should they be voting or should the exclude themselves from the process if they didn't take to time to understand what is happening around them? For them to determine the future of the country is reason for great concern.

whats Education for Thais, thought they Knew it all.

Weed may help help better thinking in the older thai