Almost Half Support Pm Samak; 37% Fear New Coup : Poll

[george]

Poll: Almost half support PM Samak; 37% fear new coup

BANGKOK: -- A new survey has found that almost half of the respondents -- 47.6 per cent -- still supported Samak Sundaravej as Thailand's prime minister while over one-third -- 36.7 per cent -- believe there is another coup on the way.

Noppadol Kannikar, director of Assumption University's ABAC Poll, said the survey was made of 2,625 people aged above 18 living in Bangkok and the surrounding areas between April 2-14 on the current political disputes in Thailand.

While a plurality of respondents supported Mr. Samak -- slightly over one in four, 26.3 per cent did not favour him.

Those supporting Mr. Samak were of the opinion that he was a straightforward man, sincere and enough time should be given to him to do his work.

Asked which political party they would vote for if a new general election was held, half of the respondents said the People Power Party, headed by Mr. Samak, while 46.9 per cent would vote for the opposition Democrat Party and the rest opted for other parties.

The survey was conducted as three political parties in the coalition government, including PPP, are facing a possible dissolution if found guilty for frauds in the last December general election.

Respondents also expressed concern over the likelihood of domestic political trouble in the next six months. Almost two-thirds -- 63.8 per cent of the respondents said they expected a "severe confrontation" between people favouring the government and those opposing it.

36.7 per cent of those polled said they believed there would be a new coup in Thailand.

The military last engineereded a coup in September 2006 and toppled the elected government of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

--TNA 2008-04-15

[slapout]

The director of the university should be more concerned with the education of the students to enter the international work place instead of spending 12 days to visit with 2600+ Thais over 18. If you cant talk to 100000 over the span of the country forget it.

[Insight]

Utter nonsense. The credibility of these polls has gone down the toilet.

Most people I know can't bring themselves to talk about politics nowadays, unless they're referring to the latest clanger Samak has come out with.

[Martin]

Could it be that attracting enough students is now a competitive business for universities, and this is one way of getting publicity?

Also it could be a form of 'work experience' for some students. A lot of jobs that were not previously felt to require degree-level studies now get filled by graduates.

'University' now seems to cover a much wider spread than when I was a lad.

I don't know the figures for Thailand, but last week I saw that from 5% of yougsters going to university fifty years ago, in the UK, it is now 44%. Some of that 44% won't be 'the brightest lights off a Christmas tree', so suitable ways of filling their time must be having to be found.

[cm das]

Interesting that the headline says 37% "fear" a coup whereas the text indicates that that approximate percentage "believe" another coup will happen. Can't you believe a coup will take place but not be afraid of it?

[Flatouthruthefog]

Poll: Almost half support PM Samak; 37% fear new coup

BANGKOK: -- A new survey has found that almost half of the respondents -- 47.6 per cent -- still supported Samak Sundaravej as Thailand's prime minister while over one-third -- 36.7 per cent -- believe there is another coup on the way.

Noppadol Kannikar, director of Assumption University's ABAC Poll, said the survey was made of 2,625 people aged above 18 living in Bangkok and the surrounding areas between April 2-14 on the current political disputes in Thailand.

While a plurality of respondents supported Mr. Samak -- slightly over one in four, 26.3 per cent did not favour him.

Those supporting Mr. Samak were of the opinion that he was a straightforward man, sincere and enough time should be given to him to do his work.

Asked which political party they would vote for if a new general election was held, half of the respondents said the People Power Party, headed by Mr. Samak, while 46.9 per cent would vote for the opposition Democrat Party and the rest opted for other parties.

The survey was conducted as three political parties in the coalition government, including PPP, are facing a possible dissolution if found guilty for frauds in the last December general election.

Respondents also expressed concern over the likelihood of domestic political trouble in the next six months. Almost two-thirds -- 63.8 per cent of the respondents said they expected a "severe confrontation" between people favouring the government and those opposing it.

36.7 per cent of those polled said they believed there would be a new coup in Thailand.

The military last engineereded a coup in September 2006 and toppled the elected government of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

--TNA 2008-04-15

Errrrr - "a PLURALITY of respondents supported Mr Samak....."? My dictionary of American English describes this as "a majority which is not absolute". Makes about as much sense as the whole piece, really, does it not?

What IS clear is that this is NOT a majority.

a) Can we be fed only REAL, CLEAR English please and

B ) when, if ever, will Thailand realise that any poll of such a tiny number of people is not worth conducting in the first place - and most certainly never to be taken seriously by readers........????????????, Oh yes and

c) since when did this bovine puppet ever deserve the respectful 'Mr'?

[Gravelrash]

For all that though, despite percenatages, it is quite pathehic that any country should have to worry about the army repeatedly coming back with yet another coup. Regardless the poor quality of their government.

Mind you read an article today about Europe being graually Islamicised and becoming Eurabia, so I suppose things here in that light do look much better here than back there.

[waveydavey]

Errrrr - "a PLURALITY of respondents supported Mr Samak....."? My dictionary of American English describes this as "a majority which is not absolute". Makes about as much sense as the whole piece, really, does it not?

What IS clear is that this is NOT a majority.

a) Can we be fed only REAL, CLEAR English please and

B ) when, if ever, will Thailand realise that any poll of such a tiny number of people is not worth conducting in the first place - and most certainly never to be taken seriously by readers........????????????, Oh yes and

c) since when did this bovine puppet ever deserve the respectful 'Mr'?

Errrrrr - which part of the definition didn't you understand?

It means more people support the position than the alternatives, although the number isn't an absolute majority, ie. over 50%. Sounds like the Thai writer has a better grasp of English than you.

I presume English isn't your first language.....

[Seneque]

The only university you might have a chance to learn something is 'patpong university'

ABAC polls' surveys are always at most questionnable and I start to believe they are made as an advertising gimmik to enroll students ...

[Tony Clifton]

The only university you might have a chance to learn something is 'patpong university'

ABAC polls' surveys are always at most questionnable and I start to believe they are made as an advertising gimmik to enroll students ...

And also have often read like they were paid for by an anonymous party.

[PhilHarries]

I don't know the figures for Thailand, but last week I saw that from 5% of yougsters going to university fifty years ago, in the UK, it is now 44%. Some of that 44% won't be 'the brightest lights off a Christmas tree', so suitable ways of filling their time must be having to be found.

Why won't the 44% be at least of entry standard for university? Despite what the mindless gutter press would have you believe the standard of unversity graduates in the UK is still amongst the best in the world.

Also be careful comparing today's figures with those from 50 years ago. In 1958 the UK, and the rest of Europe, was still rebuilding itself after WWII. A child born in 1945 was still in school several years away from university provided his/her parents could afford it. It was a different world then and opportunities today are spread around far more evenly.

Back on topic. Another ABAC meaningless survey that just come up with figures that, quite frankly, anyone could come up with over a beer.

[yumidesign]

Poll: Almost half support PM Samak; 37% fear new coup

BANGKOK: -- A new survey has found that almost half of the respondents -- 47.6 per cent -- still supported Samak Sundaravej as Thailand's prime minister

Which 47.6 per cent are these? are they the ones that are on his payroll. Someone has got deep pockets i wonder who that could be?

[LomSak27]

Thaksin said the people should not be serious about predictions by fortune tellers. He was approached for comments on a prediction by well-known fortune-teller Warin, who predicted that bloodshed would happen in May and Army Commander-in-Chief Gen Anupong Poachida would become the prime minister.

This 'fortune teller' is known for being 'friends' with the military. Sadly superstition is a potent force in Thai politics and all sides use it. These headlines in last weeks papers confirmed for 99% of the local population a PR coup campaign has begun .... after some Pu-Yais made a few donations of course

Utter nonsense. The credibility of these polls has gone down the toilet. Most people I know can't bring themselves to talk about politics nowadays, unless they're referring to the latest clanger Samak has come out with.

Did they say something you would prefer not hearing Oh my ! Not to worry grab another Leo and hit the remote.

[steveromagnino]

2,600 people is probably statistically sound as a sample for a population of about what 12 million Bangkokians/surrounding area voters, depending on the sampling frame.

If you don't know how to interpret stats, then don't dismiss it as useless; the sample of Bangkok is fine for using for Bangkok.

However, I do agree that without knowing the questions, the order of other omitted questions and the scales, the data reported is useless, which is fairly typical for BKK post, knowing their political stance with regards to PPP.

Additionally, since ABAC is now somewhat pro PPP anyhow (the head of graduate school, which is arguably the school most closely associated with the research side of things is a PPP MP Dr Somprot) we would expect studies pro PPP to be promoted, and possible questions in the same survey or similar surveys to be not promoted.

For instance if the question was:

- Is PM Samak the best PM to lead Thailand now (yes, no, don't know)

- Would you choose PM Samak to lead Thailand now or a small ostrich egg (yes, no, don't know)

- Would you support PM Samak if foreign journalists told him he was a moron (yes, no don't know)

then the report in BKK post could be the same, and yet the actual result in the survey would be quite different no doubt.

Or maybe if you wanted to get a good result on the first question, lead like this:

- do you believe military governments like Burma and Hitler's Germany were bad for the country?

- do you believe people have the right to speak up in a democracy

- do you think we should respect the voice of the majority of voters

- do you think that unelected officials should have the right to defy the will of the people

- do you agree that democracy is important for Thailand

- do you think PM Samak is the best PM to lead Thailand (yes, no, don't know)

or alternatively, if I was working at the nation?

- do you like Chalerm's children getting jobs in the current government

- do you support nepotism and putting people in power just as relatives is worse than the best person for the best job

- do you know that the majority of the current cabinet have no expertise in the ministries they supervise

- do you know that Samak is up on charges of corruption

- are you aware that Samak has denied involvement in the 1976 student massacre, although evidence proves he was involved

- do you believe that the current cabinet is one of the worst on record

- do you think youth and hardwork are more important than a cooking show as experience for being PM

- rate Supachai Paniktapact as a potential PM

- rate Thaksin as a potential PM

- rate Purachai as a potential PM

- rate Anand as a potential PM

- do you think PM Samak is the best PM to lead Thailand?

I bet you get slightly different answers.

I do fondly recall the blockade placed on ABAC Poll and other research houses back in the TRT days (actual police going in and seizing files/data/documents) so this should not be a surprise to anyone that the same methods have returned.

Just like the pre Thaksin court case over asset disclosure where theoretically he should have been banned for 5 years but instead got off by the slimmest of margins, again the face of public opinion will be used to ensure pPP's survival.

[sriracha john]

2,600 people is probably statistically sound as a sample for a population of about what 12 million Bangkokians/surrounding area voters, depending on the sampling frame.

If you don't know how to interpret stats, then don't dismiss it as useless; the sample of Bangkok is fine for using for Bangkok.

However, I do agree that without knowing the questions, the order of other omitted questions and the scales, the data reported is useless, which is fairly typical for BKK post, knowing their political stance with regards to PPP.

Additionally, since ABAC is now somewhat pro PPP anyhow (the head of graduate school, which is arguably the school most closely associated with the research side of things is a PPP MP Dr Somprot) we would expect studies pro PPP to be promoted, and possible questions in the same survey or similar surveys to be not promoted.

For instance if the question was:

- Is PM Samak the best PM to lead Thailand now (yes, no, don't know)

- Would you choose PM Samak to lead Thailand now or a small ostrich egg (yes, no, don't know)

- Would you support PM Samak if foreign journalists told him he was a moron (yes, no don't know)

then the report in BKK post could be the same, and yet the actual result in the survey would be quite different no doubt.

Or maybe if you wanted to get a good result on the first question, lead like this:

- do you believe military governments like Burma and Hitler's Germany were bad for the country?

- do you believe people have the right to speak up in a democracy

- do you think we should respect the voice of the majority of voters

- do you think that unelected officials should have the right to defy the will of the people

- do you agree that democracy is important for Thailand

- do you think PM Samak is the best PM to lead Thailand (yes, no, don't know)

or alternatively, if I was working at the nation?

- do you like Chalerm's children getting jobs in the current government

- do you support nepotism and putting people in power just as relatives is worse than the best person for the best job

- do you know that the majority of the current cabinet have no expertise in the ministries they supervise

- do you know that Samak is up on charges of corruption

- are you aware that Samak has denied involvement in the 1976 student massacre, although evidence proves he was involved

- do you believe that the current cabinet is one of the worst on record

- do you think youth and hardwork are more important than a cooking show as experience for being PM

- rate Supachai Paniktapact as a potential PM

- rate Thaksin as a potential PM

- rate Purachai as a potential PM

- rate Anand as a potential PM

- do you think PM Samak is the best PM to lead Thailand?

I bet you get slightly different answers.

I do fondly recall the blockade placed on ABAC Poll and other research houses back in the TRT days (actual police going in and seizing files/data/documents) so this should not be a surprise to anyone that the same methods have returned.

Just like the pre Thaksin court case over asset disclosure where theoretically he should have been banned for 5 years but instead got off by the slimmest of margins, again the face of public opinion will be used to ensure pPP's survival.

you forgot one...

- do you think steveromagnino or the son of old corrupt politicians like Sanoh should go out with Gybzy?

[Scott]

The only thing I enjoy more than these silly polls is reading the posts about them on TV! It's good that some people know a lot about statistics and others are accutely aware of wording which is misleading.

[wayfarer108]

Interesting that the headline says 37% "fear" a coup whereas the text indicates that that approximate percentage "believe" another coup will happen. Can't you believe a coup will take place but not be afraid of it?

In fact you might believe a coup will take place and hope - not fear - that it does.

[steveromagnino]

- do you think steveromagnino or the son of old corrupt politicians like Sanoh should go out with Gybzy?

You are killing me there Sriracha John. Break my heart.

However, I do have to admit one of my ex girlfriends previously dated that loon (or one of the same family) prior to me.

That relationship didn't last too long.

Maybe I should cut out the middleman and go direct to the source. Mind, you then I would have to post on another sub forum rather than this one, although I would probably end up with a nice car ;-)

[h90]

and how many hope for a new coup?

[steveromagnino]

and how many hope for a new coup?

I quite like a Mini coup.

That's the 3 door one right?