Poll predicts landslide vote against draft charter

An independent survey has shown that in the August referendum, most respondents will vote against the draft charter and the junta’s proposal to allow junta-appointed senators to join in the vote for PM. 
 
 
PeoplePoll Thailand has published the result of an opinion poll on the August referendum. The data was collected online between 15 and 31 May 2016 from 2,095 Thais across the country. The survey used the same questions which will be used in the referendum in August.  
 
The survey reveals that a huge majority of respondents will vote ‘no’ to the draft charter. On the question ‘will you approve the draft charter or not?,’ 84.4 per cent of respondents said they will turn down the draft, while only 7.6 per cent will pass it and 2 per cent will not participate.
 
On the attached motion which proposes to give 250 junta-appointed senators the power to jointly vote with the House of Representatives to select a PM, 88.8 per cent of the respondents said that they will turn it down as well. Only 5.0 per cent will green-light it. 
 
The poll also reveals that almost three quarters of respondents believe that the charter draft will not pass the referendum. On the question ‘What do you expect to be the result of the draft charter referendum?’ 73 per cent of respondents answered that it will not pass while 9.8 per cent believe that it will. 14.7 per cent said that they are uncertain.   
 
Interestingly, although almost 90 per cent of the respondents express their intention to vote against the draft charter, only 73 per cent believe that the draft will not pass the referendum. 
 
The survey was conducted with the cooperation of five organizations: 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 PeoplePoll Thailand. 

 

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