Opinion poll bill goes to NLA amid doubts over key aspects
A bill that requires public opinion polls to get government approval at least five days in advance was forwarded by
the Cabinet yesterday to the National Legislative Assembly.
Some NLA members opposed the requirement for prior approval but said they could live with the law if pollsters only needed to inform the National Statistical Office (NSO), the agency mandated under the bill to regulate polls. They warned the measure would lead to monopolistic control of surveys. The NLA will discuss the bill today but some members have already expressed concern about how it will likely impinge on academic research. Article 19 of the bill prescribes penalties against those who fail to inform the government. Wallop Tangkananurak said some informal discussion had already taken place and some NLA members agreed it needed to be rewritten. Sombat Thamrongthanya-wong said it was not right that pollsters had to seek a permit. The reason for notifying the NSO should be to avoid redundant surveys. If the objective was otherwise, many scholars would come out against it. Democratic Party deputy spokesman Apichart Sakdisaet urged the NLA to throw out the bill despite some having viewed it as only applying to nationwide censuses. It also violated Article 3 of the interim constitution and would turn the NSO into a political tool, he said.
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