Given the polarised political situation, why did Abac decide to present this poll?

Some information was selective. The selected information presented one side of the poll information. So information that represents all parties was not presented. But we think the poll was an option to show information from people at all levels because the poll was not biased. We just did not select information from every party. Every sample had to pass through the statistical process to make sure the poll represented the whole demography of society.|

Weren't you concerned that you would be seen as siding with a particular group of people?

No, because we didn't accept money from any party. The result of the poll serves well as a barometer for the current political situation.

How do you see the changing attitude of the public?

For the question of whether people had decided to vote, we found that on March 1, 57.3 per cent decided to go the polls, 24.7 per cent were undecided and 18 per cent of them said they would not. However, the survey conducted on March 25 showed that 41.4 per cent said they intended to vote, 43.6 per cent said they were undecided while the other 15 per cent said they would not go. The latest survey on March 26 showed that 64.8 per cent said they would vote, 23.6 per cent were undecided and the other 11.6 per cent said they would not.

You can see the undecided group has fluctuated while the group that insisted they wouldn't vote remains [largely] uncharged.

We found that when support for the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) rises, the people tend to have less intention to vote. But when the government softens its attitude or suggests a way out, such as setting up a national government, people's intention to vote increases.

Moreover, the survey suggested people disapproved of the protesters' decision to move. For instance, some viewed the PAD gathering as an obstruction to the Red Cross Fair. Or recently, when the PAD changed its strategy to send groups to various places, 71 per cent of the respondents disagreed.

How do you analyse the swing in opinion?

Both sides have less than 50 per cent support. Neither has absolute majority support. Therefore, when asked if the prime minister should resign, only 20-30 per cent of respondents agreed. The figure has never been higher than 50 per cent.

Is there any question that gets a positive response from a majority of respondents?

Almost 70 per cent of the respondents said the protests should end and around 65 per cent of respondents want a neutral party to examine the Shin Corp deal.

Chularat Saengpassa

 The Nation