NIDA Poll finds LAD exam fraud biggest threat to government

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s administration is facing political instability stemming from 12 unresolved problems, including alleged corruption in the Local Administration Department’s (LAD) recruitment examination and Senate election rigging, according to a NIDA poll.

The other problems ranged from the Khao Kradueng land scandal in Buri Ram province to high energy prices and low prices of farm products.

The National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) conducted the opinion survey, titled “So Many Problems, Can the Government Survive?”, among 1,310 respondents from August 18 to 20.

On the problems undermining the government’s stability, 62.75% of respondents identified the LAD examination fraud, while 55.88% pointed to Senate election rigging. Another 42.29% cited the Khao Kradueng land scandal, 37.33% high energy prices, 33.36% the Thai-Cambodian border conflict, 28.78% the 400-billion-baht loan decree and 28.17% fluctuations in farm product prices.

Another 25.27% cited new firearms controls, 24.27% called for stricter screening of applications for state welfare cards, 22.98% cited illegal activities by foreigners and 18.17% wanted the TH-AI Passport project investigated.

Only 5.34% of respondents said the government was not facing any serious challenges that could affect its stability.

The poll also found that 39.69% of respondents believe the government can handle some of the problems, while 31.99% believe it is incapable of handling any of them. Another 16.26% believe the government can handle all of the problems and 11.68% believe it can handle most of them. Meanwhile, 0.38% had no opinion.

When asked whether the government can survive, 37.86% of respondents said they believe it will collapse, while 26.03% believe it will survive but with extensive damage. Another 17.94% believe it will survive with minor damage and 17.71% think it will survive comfortably. A further 0.46% had no opinion.

Regarding an image of Anutin performing a “wai” gesture while sitting on former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s lap, 41.45% of respondents said the gesture showed respect for a senior person. Another 29.62% believed it was simply staged political drama, while 21.60% said it demonstrated that there are no true friends or permanent foes in politics.

Meanwhile, 17.48% believed Anutin was seeking political support from Thaksin, 12.21% said the image showed that Thaksin remains an influential figure, and 9.62% said it indicated that the Pheu Thai Party still supports Anutin. Another 9.31% said they disagreed with Anutin’s act, while 4.74% said they supported it.