Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha tops the list of the five politicians people most want to meet for a "rod nam dam hua" ceremony during this year's Songkran Festival, followed by Future Forward's Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit and former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, according to an opinion survey by Suan Dusit Rajabhat University (Suan Dusit Poll). Future Forward's Thanathorn
The poll was conducted on 1,206 people throughout the country between April 9-13 to compile their opinions on the occasion of this year's Songkran Festival, the traditional Thai New Year celebration.
Asked to name the politician they would most like to meet for the "rod nam dam hua" ceremony on this occasion, Gen Prayut topped the list of five with 34.51%, followed by Future Forward Party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit with 24.84%, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra with 19.48%, Pheu Thai Party's prime ministerial candidate Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan with 17.25% and former prime minister Chuan Leekpai with 12.55%.
"Rod nam dam hua" is a traditional Songkran ceremony in which well-wishers pour water on the hands of revered elders to seek their blessing.
Asked what most concerns them during this Songkran, a majority -- or 68.62% -- of the respondents cited road accidents; 31.63% economic conditions during the festival; 30.78% high consumption of liquor which could lead to brawls and sexual offences; 19.39% diseases which come with summer heat; and 11.82% traffic congestion and insufficient transportation for people to return from visiting their hometowns.
Based on past average expenditure of 5,000-10,000 baht per person during the Songkran Festival, 47.76% said their spending would remain unchanged, 30.64% said they spend less and 21.64% said they would increase their spending over the period.
