Poll shows Thais want limits to military’s powers

A recent survey has shown that the majority of Thai people want the size and tasks of Thai military to be curtailed, and believe it should not have any responsibility other than protecting national sovereignty.
 
People Poll Thailand has published the result of a survey on Thai military reform, revealing that more that 79 percent of respondents think that the size of the Thai military should be reduced, and only 11.9 percent think that the current size is appropriate.
 
The poll also reveals that most respondents want the military only to protect national sovereignty and not get involved in other domestic affairs. On the question ‘Apart from national defence, should the military have a responsibility in any other internal matter?’ 87.2 percent said it should not, while only 7.5 percent answered yes to the question.   
 
Although most respondents obviously agree that the military needs reform, there is a disagreement between two equally large groups of respondents on when the reform should be done. Almost 46 percent think that reform should be done during the current government. But almost 49 percent think that it should be done after next election. Only 1.4 percent of respondents answer that reform is not necessary. 
 
The data was collected online between 20 April and 11 May, 2016 from 2,165 Thai people sampled for gender, education, age and income. 
 
The survey was conducted by Mahidol University’s Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies, Chiang Mai University’s Faculty of Law, Thammasat University’s College of Interdisciplinary Studies, Rangsit University’s College of Social Innovation, and People Poll Thailand.
 
 
 
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