A recent opinion survey by the National Institute of Development Administration, or Nida Poll, found the opposition Pheu Thai Party is still popular in the Northeast although many voters are undecided whether to vote for the party in the next general election.
The poll was conducted by telephone interviews during Oct 18-20 on 1,320 eligible voters aged 18 and over of various levels of education and occupations in the Northeast to gauge Pheu Thai's popularity in the region.
The Northeast has been a strong political base of the Pheu Thai Party, the successor party to the dissolved Thai Rak Thai and Palang Prachachon parties supported by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Asked whether they had ever voted for one of Thai Rak Thai, Palang Prachachon or Pheu Thai in past elections, a majority -- 81.14% -- of the respondents said "yes"; 12.65% said "no"; and 1.97% had no answer or were not interested.
For those who said "yes", when asked whether they voted for Pheu Thai in the last election, 70.59% said "yes" and 29.41% said "no".
For those who did not vote for Pheu Thai in the last election, when asked which party they voted for, 30.49% had no answer; 19.05% said they voted for the Palang Pracharath Party; 19.05% did not go to the poll; 15.87% voted for the now-defunct Future Foward Party; 6.98% for the Bhumjaithai Party; 4.13% ticked the "no vote" box; 1.90% for the Seri Ruam Thai Party; 1.90% for the Democrat Party; and 0.63% for the New Economics Party.
Asked whether they would vote for Pheu Thai in the next general election, 48.33% of all respondents said "yes"; 37.12% were still undecided; 12.35% said "no"; 0.91% said they would tick the "no vote" box; 0.76% had no answer or were not interested; and 0.53% would not go to the poll.
