Prayut scorns polls after survey shows Paetongtarn preferred as PM
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha cast doubt on the accuracy of opinion polls on Monday, a day after a survey indicated most Thais would prefer Paetongtarn Shinawatra as their next prime minister.
The poll apparently confirmed the rising popularity of Paetongtarn, leader of the so-called “Pheu Thai Family” and daughter of former PM Thaksin.
Conducted by the National Institute of Development Administration (Nida), the June 23-25 poll surveyed 2,500 people from different educational and occupational backgrounds nationwide.
The results released on Sunday show Paetongtarn leading the list with 25.28 per cent of respondents naming her as their preferred next prime minister. In comparison, incumbent PM Prayut came a lowly fourth with 11.68 per cent.
Speaking on Monday, Prayut claimed that many polls deliver inaccurate results.
He added it was up to citizens to decide whether they were satisfied with him as PM, as he was working for everyone without discrimination.
"The difficulties of each task are different," he said. "We need to ensure that all 70 million people are taken care of. That's our intention."
He also stressed that the government must gauge citizens' opinions before making decisions on how to tackle issues.