Bangkok voters favour independent candidates in governor poll
NIDA Poll shows most respondents prefer non-party-backed candidates for governor, while more than half plan to split their votes between governor and council candidates
Bangkok voters appear to be leaning strongly towards independent candidates in the upcoming Bangkok governor election, according to a new survey by the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) Poll Research Centre.
The poll, titled “Bangkok Governor: Independent vs. Party-Affiliated”, was conducted from May 25-26, 2026, among 1,310 eligible voters aged 18 and above across all 50 districts of Bangkok.
Respondents came from a range of educational backgrounds, occupations and income groups. All were officially registered residents of Bangkok.
The survey was designed to gauge voting intentions ahead of the Bangkok governor and Bangkok Metropolitan Council (BMC) elections, scheduled for June 28, 2026.
NIDA Poll said the survey used probability sampling drawn from its Master Sample database, with a multi-stage sampling method. Data was collected through telephone interviews. The margin of error did not exceed 0.05 at a 97.0% confidence level.
Independent candidates lead in governor race
The poll asked respondents which type of candidate they intended to support in the Bangkok governor election on June 28, 2026.
- 64.96% said they would vote for an independent candidate who is not affiliated with or backed by any political party.
- 16.88% said they would vote for a candidate officially affiliated with a political party.
- 12.82% said they would vote for an independent candidate backed by a political party.
- 5.34% said they were undecided.
BMC race shows stronger party support, but independents still lead
For the Bangkok Metropolitan Council election on June 28, 2026, voters were also asked which type of candidate they intended to support.
- 48.47% said they would vote for independent candidates who are not affiliated with or backed by any political party.
- 33.21% said they would vote for candidates officially affiliated with a political party.
- 11.60% said they would vote for independent candidates backed by a political party.
- 6.72% said they were undecided.
More than half plan to split their votes
The survey also asked whether voters intended to choose Bangkok governor and BMC candidates from the same political party or group, or from different parties or groups.
- 53.97% said they would vote for candidates from different political parties or groups.
- 36.80% said they would vote for candidates from the same political party or group.
- 9.08% said they were undecided.
- 0.15% gave no response or expressed no interest.
Respondent profile
The demographic breakdown of respondents was as follows:
Gender: 45.50% male and 54.50% female.
Age:
- 18-25 years old: 10.92%
- 26-35 years old: 17.09%
- 36-45 years old: 18.17%
- 46-59 years old: 25.73%
- 60 years old and above: 28.09%
Religion: 93.90% Buddhist, 4.12% Muslim, and 1.98% Christian or other religions.
