THURSDAY, April 25, 2024
nationthailand

PM hints he may not reveal results of answers to four questions posed in June

PM hints he may not reveal results of answers to four questions posed in June

Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha on Tuesday strongly hinted that the government might not reveal official collated results of the answers to his original “four questions”, despite having gathered opinions from around a million respondents on politicians and elections.

While 10-day updates have been made to Prayut since the survey started in June, the premier said that releasing such information to the public would “give the impression that we gather information to favour ourselves”.
“I want to gather the answers only to adjust the administration to people’s needs,” the PM said during his weekly press briefing “If we publicise the answers, they [critics] will only hit me again for formulating answers for my benefit.”
Damromgdhamma centres under the Interior Ministry have been assigned to operate booths, where respondents have to identify themselves with national ID cards, write their answers on the forms provided and then submit them.
The questions campaign has been criticised for not only failing to be conducted scientifically and neutrally, but also for its perceived tendency to guide the public to disapprove of democracy and doubt Thailand’s democratic system.
Earlier this month, Prayut released another set of “six questions” in the same manner, but with harsher tones.
“Is it Prayut’s or the junta’s right to support any political party?” and “Why are politicians lining up to attack the government?” are among the second batch of questions.
As with the previous four questions, Prayut insisted that respondents must physically be present at the government-run booths to write down their answers.
He believes that using the more convenient online channel would only make respondents “irresponsible” in their answers.
“You have to be fair with us also. It’s not like we’re going to track you down for your answers or anything,” he said, adding, “If we make it online, people will simply say whatever they want to say, which is not very fruitful to do.”

RELATED
nationthailand