Most of the people think the Thai economy declined in the first quarter of 2018 and see no hope in the economic stimulation policies or programmes currently being carried out by the government, according to a survey carried out by National Institute of Development Administration, or Nida Poll.
The poll was conducted on April 9-10 on 1,250 people of various levels of education and occupations throughout the country to compile their opinions on the Thai economy during January-March this year.
Asked about the overall economy of the country during the first quarter, 45.92% of the respondents said it had become worse; 37.52% said it had remained the same as before; 16.24% said it had improved, and 0.32% were uncertain or had no comment.
Asked to comment on policies and programmes being carried out by the government to stimulate the economy, large percentages of the respondents said they expected no changes in terms of incomes (52.08%), debt reduction (62.32%), cost of living (47.76%), liquidity (44.80%) and basic infrastructure (47.60%). Few people expected they would bring about improvements, while others expected worse to come or had no comment.
On their expectations of the Thai economy after the elections, 58.96% believed it would get better because an elected government would gain more confidence from foreign investors; 16.88% said it would remain unchanged; 5.92% said it would get worse because of the discontinuity in solving economic problems, and 18.24% were uncertain or had no comment.