A majority of people think it is not necessary for Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to hold talks with former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in order to achieve reconciliation, a Bangkok Poll released Thursday showed.
The poll by Bangkok University was conducted recently with 1,163 people nationwide responding to questions about an amnesty law and reconciliation.
Most of those answering, or 56.8%, thought it was necessary for Gen Prayut to mediate talks between conflicting political parties as well as between the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship and the People's Democratic Reform Committee in order to achieve reconciliation; 36.4% said it was not necessary; while 6.8% were uncertain.
To the question whether it is necessary for Gen Prayut to hold talks with Thaksin, 58.6% said it was not; 32.6% said it was; and 8.8% were uncertain.
Asked whether they agree with passing a law granting political amnesty, 47.4% said they did not. Of the other respondents, 22.4% approved of such a law on the condition that both protesters and protest leaders be pardoned; 18.0% wanted only protesters to be amnestied; and, 12.2% were uncertain.
Asked whether they think an amnesty law will help Thai society to reconcile, 47.9% said it would be of some help and 17.1% believed it would be of much help. Only 27.6% of the respondents said it would not be of any help, while 7.4% were uncertain.
A large majority or 71.6% of the respondents agreed when asked whether they wanted the martial law to stay until a new election is held; only 23.6% disagreed; and 4.8% uncertain.