Thai govt's reform plans get positive response, poll finds

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Govt's reform plans get positive response, poll finds
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Most people agree with the government's reform plans to promote justice and equality in terms of people's rights, a Suan Dusit Poll suggested yesterday.

More than 85 per cent of the respondents said a lot of people were being neglected by the state, were taken unfair advantage of or lacked access to their basic rights.

Almost 84 per cent backed the promotion of a constitutional monarchy, as the monarch provided the foundation for Thai people's morals and respect. They also said Thai citizens should learn to stick to the rule of law.

About 80 per cent of the respondents said they supported the proposal on transparency and good governance as corruption had plagued the country and hindered its development for a long time.

The fourth-biggest priority for the respondents was a reduction in social disparity. Almost 75 per cent said the huge socio-economic gap and the poor being taken advantage of were among the worst problems plaguing the country.

The fifth item in the proposed reform forum was following the principles of righteousness in terms of public interest. More than 67 per cent of the respondents said government officials and politicians should stop abusing their power and playing favourites.

About the same percentage of respondents said the government should not only follow the decision of the majority, but should also listen to the minority. All should be able to voice their opinions, they said.

About 53 per cent of respondents said they wanted an atmosphere of trust to be created in society, adding that unity would improve both the environment and the country's image.

The poll was conducted on 1,154 respondents in Bangkok and nearby provinces from Tuesday to yesterday.


-- The Nation 2013-08-31

[NongKhaiKid]

The majority of these results are nothing knew and are repeated in poll after poll year after year as Thais rightly complain about abuses of power, the disparity between rich and poor, cronyism, the poor being kept down and so on.

None of this will concern the government who will be quite happy with support for transparency and good governance which is all the window dressing is about. They will hold their forum, Tony Blair will ramble on although I doubt the average Thai will know who he is, how lucky they are, but the bottom line is nothing will change.

This government has it's own agenda and despite being encouraged to listen to minority views there's no chance of that, they want full control and they want what they want, when they want it and woe betide anyone or anything that gets in the way.

[pee paub]

Seems to me this poll shows the respondents support many fine ideals, but since I have seen no proposals from the PT government to address these issues, how can the writer take the leap to saying, "Most people agree with the government's reform plans"?

[Yunla]

1154 people is no kind of poll. Specially in a single city where the ruling party and their nepotistic clan live and surf on a wave of enormous bribes.

Edit; although I agree with all the points in the poll about equality etc. I don't agree with supporting the PT on this, as they are only putting tinsel and sparkley angels on the christmas tree again, a tree that has been dead for 3 years.

Edited August 31, 2013 by Yunla