Bangkokians worried by rising cost of living: survey

The survey was conducted by Bangkok University on the occasion of World Mental Health Day, which falls on October 10. The pollster interviewed 1,189 Bangkok residents, who are at least 18 years old, between September 30 and October 3.

The survey found that most or 35.7 per cent of respondents cited the rising cost of living as their biggest worry in the past two months since the Yingluck government took office. The cost of living was followed by traffic problems (8.3 per cent), debt (7.9 per cent) and flooding (6.4 per cent) as the biggest worries. And 6.3 per cent of respondents said they worried that they would not receive Bt300 daily minimum wage or Bt15,000 salary as promised by the government.

Asked what or who they think caused to them to have tension or worry, most or 46.2 per cent said economic woes. Bangkok Poll said 15.9 per cent blamed the government and 10.3 per cent blamed themselves.

Bangkok Poll said 57.1 per cent of respondents said they would consult their family when they developed stress or worry and 19.5 per cent said they would talk to a close friend while 10.8 per cent said they would turn to their spouses or loved ones. The pollster said 8.6 per cent decided to tackle the tension by themselves.

The survey found that 71.1 per cent said they would not go to see a psychiatrist when they faced stress while the remaining 28.9 per cent said they would go.

The pollster also found that 94.4 per cent of the respondents said they had never thought about committing suicide or hurting themselves when they were under stress while 2.9 per cent said they had thought about harming themselves and 2.7 per cent said they considered committing suicide.