Abac poll says economy tops political concerns
For most Bangkok residents, the country's economic problems present more of a problem than the political crisis, a survey has found.
Almost 69 per cent of those surveyed said they believed the economic problems were "critical" while slightly over 41 per cent of the respondents viewed the political problems in the same light, according to the findings of a public opinion poll released by Assumption University yesterday. Noppadon Kannika, director of the university's Abac Poll Research Centre, said yesterday that economic problems generally had a more negative impact on people than political problems did. Economic problems could lead to worry, stress and personal conflict, he explained. Over 42 per cent of the respondents said they had no confidence that a new government would be able to ease the economic problems while 14 per cent said they were confident. The remaining 43 per cent gave no comment. The survey was conducted on 1,588 people aged 18 and over in Bangkok and the surrounding provinces between Thursday and Saturday. Every three in four of the respondents said the main causes of concern were higher prices of basic commodities and more expensive petrol, according to the Abac Poll. Eighty-two per cent of those surveyed said the higher oil prices had an impact on their retail behaviour, while slightly over 12 per cent said the more expensive oil had no effect on their decision to buy things. More than 47 per cent said they were dissatisfied with how the government was dealing with the oil prices while 21.4 per cent said they were happy. The remainder gave no comment on the matter. A total of 66.4 per cent of those surveyed said they agreed with the idea of a campaign to encourage the public to use bicycles to travel to work and school as a way to tackle the problem of expensive oil, and 19 per cent disagreed with the idea. Almost 80 per cent voiced support of the proposal to build more bike lanes to facilitate travel by bicycles, compared to less than 10 per cent who disagreed. More than half of those surveyed said they would opt for a bicycle as their main means of transport if there were more bike lanes, and more than 30 per cent said they would not go to work or school by bike.
|
