Thai voters to shun parties without anti-corruption policies: survey

The survey was conducted from January 5 to 25 among 2,255 respondents by the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce and the Anti-Corruption Organisation of Thailand.

Asked whether they would vote for a party that has no policy to fight corruption, 83.6% of the respondents said no.

When asked to explain their answer, 72.2% said they could not trust a party without anti-graft policies as it lacked transparency from the beginning.

Respondents were also asked whether they would vote for a candidate who offered money in exchange for their vote. The overwhelming majority (86.2%) said no. However, 13.8% of respondents affirmed that they would vote for a candidate in exchange for payment.

Of those who said no, 70.9% reasoned that vote-buying candidates proved themselves to be dishonest in the first place. They also pointed out that vote-buying was unlawful.

Asked whether the anti-corruption policies of parties and candidates would affect their voting decisions, respondents replied as follows:

- 67% strongly affect

- 28% moderately affect

- 3% not affect

- 2% slightly affect

Asked to list the top three urgent national issues that the next government needs to address:

- 25% said corruption

- 14% said education

- 13% said economic disparity

Asked to list the types of corruption they want the next government to combat urgently:

- 23.9% said corruption in government agencies

- 21.6% said corruption in the judicial system

- 11.8% said corruption in donations for religious institutions.

Asked what measures the government should use to prevent corruption:

- 19.1% said offer transparent access to information in the public interest

- 17.9% said heed opinions on corruption prevention and allow public participation

- 17.8% said independent watchdogs, such as the National Anti-Corruption Commission, must be allowed to work freely.