ANN/THE NATION – The youngest daughter of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra emerged as the most popular choice as a candidate for prime minister – by far – among voters in the bellwether province of Korat, a survey found.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra (The Star, pic below) left Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat and Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha in the dust, the survey by the National Institute of Development Administration (Nida) found. The survey was carried out from January 30 to February 3 among 1,500 eligible voters in the northeastern province, which is formally known as Nakhon Ratchasima.
Korat, with 16 constituencies, has the second highest number of MPs after Bangkok, which has 33. More importantly, voters in Korat generally indicate how other voters in the Northeast will vote.
The party that wins the Northeast usually wins the election because the region is the most populous and has more constituencies than any other region.
Paetongtarn leads the Pheu Thai’s Family Project and is the party’s tentative candidate for prime minister.
She was selected by 37.8 per cent of respondents in the survey, more than three times the number of any other candidate.
Pita was selected by only 12.4 per cent of respondents. Prayut, the likely prime ministerial candidate for the United Thai Nation Party, fared worse. He was selected by only 11.73 per cent of those surveyed.
The Nida poll found that 9.27 per cent of respondents were undecided. Six other candidates received less than seven per cent of the vote each
Surveys by Nida last year found that Paetongtarn was the most popular choice for premier nationwide. Most regional surveys also put her on top. However, Prayut was more popular than her in a survey of voters in the South, while Pita was the top choice in a survey of Bangkok voters.
Pheu Thai also topped Korat voters’ choice for party-list voting.
