Poll: One-third of Thai handout recipients not sure they'll back govt
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Poll: One-third of Thai handout recipients not sure they'll back govt

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Eligible cash recipients under the state-sponsored cash handout scheme flock to withdraw their money from the Government Savings Bank in Mae Chan district, Chiang Rai on Oct 1. (Photo supplied)
Eligible cash recipients under the state-sponsored cash handout scheme flock to withdraw their money from the Government Savings Bank in Mae Chan district, Chiang Rai on Oct 1. (Photo supplied)

Just over one-third of Thais are still undecided whether they will support the government once they have received 10,000 baht under its flagship stimulus handout scheme, according to an opinion survey by the National Institute of Development Administration, Nida Poll.

The poll was conducted nationwide on Oct 1-3, with 1,312 respondents aged 18 and over of various levels of education and occupation.

To the question of whether they would give political support to the Pheu Thai-led government after they or their family members have received the 10,000-baht handout under the digital wallet scheme, the answers varied as follows:

34.35% of the respondents said they were not sure and had not decided yet

30.31% said the handout scheme could be a partial reason for them to support the government

20.38% said they already supported the Paetongtarn Shinawatra administration, with or without its handout scheme.

13.13% said they did not support the current government no matter what they did

1.83% did not know or were not interested

Asked what the respondents planned to spend the 10,000-baht cash handout on, the answers were as follows:

86.79% daily expenses (including utility bills and petrol)

16.49% saving for future expenses

14.35% repaying debt

13.59% health-related expenses (e.g., buying medicines, seeing a doctor)

8.24% buying goods for reselling

7.48% education expenses

1.37% purchasing electrical appliances

1.07% buying underground/ government lottery tickets

0.99% buying mobile phones/ IT devices

0.69% entertainment purposes (e.g., partying, buying alcohol or cigarettes)  

0.31% travel

0.15% buying gold/ jewellery

0.99% didn’t answer

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